


State of Nature

by lolalliecatz



Category: Supernatural
Genre: (until s11 starts), Alternate Season/Series 11, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Compliant, Castiel is an archangel, Chuck is God, Episode: s10e23 My Brother's Keeper, M/M, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss, Original Character(s), Post-Episode: s10e23 My Brother's Keeper, Post-Season/Series 10, Post-Season/Series 10 Finale, Season 11, Season/Series 11, Seven Archangels - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-12-08
Packaged: 2018-04-07 03:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 95,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4248363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lolalliecatz/pseuds/lolalliecatz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate Season 11: With the release of The Darkness, two angels named Raguel and Ramiel come down to Earth with a very important task.  They cure the effects of Rowena's spell and then restore what they say is Castiel's true grace, leaving him temporarily unconscious.  While watching over Cas, Sam and Dean meet their new enemy powering the Darkness, an ancient and powerful force older than God called Chaos who claims to desire pure freedom for the universe.  They learn of Castiel's true nature as the seventh archangel Cassiel, and ban together with Gabriel and the other archangels to try and find a way to defeat their newest foe.</p><p>(Memory loss/alteration included.)<br/>(OCs are minor characters.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Calling All Angels

**Author's Note:**

> Archive warnings and rating are currently unknown due to this being a work in progress. The title is taken from Hobbes' 'Leviathan.' Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments if you wish!

Central park was bustling as usual.  So many faces, each showing a different facet of human emotion; there was so much _life_ in them.  None of these people knew the calamity which was about to befall the universe thanks to the decisions of two brothers just a few states away.  They lived in blissful ignorance of the true horrors of the world.  Instead, their daily worries usually amounted to things such as money, relationships, government…very human things.  Very natural things. 

Of those in the park, two young women waited.  They waited and watched.  One sat patiently on a bench, whereas the other was pacing restlessly in front of it.  Unlike everyone else, these two women knew what was approaching.  Their Father told them.  He also told them to wait.  They had an important task, and they had to wait until that ancient enemy was rereleased before completing it.  Perhaps their Father still had faith that the brothers would do the right thing.  That they would not damn the world for the sake of each other.

Free will definitely put a pin in his whole omniscience shtick.  He would say that free will truly wouldn’t be so if He knew all the choices ahead of time.  But they knew He was being uncharacteristically modest when He would say that.  Really, they both had a feeling that He just wanted to hope for a different future than the one that was about to happen. 

“I don’t understand why we have to wait.  We _know_ it is coming.  We should get a jump on it now!”  The pacing woman finally stopped and spoke to her companion, who was smiling warmly while her eyes remained fixated on a young happy couple with their infant child.  When she replied, she still did not alter her gaze.

“Patience, Raguel.  Father specifically told us to _wait_.”  She spoke with no irritation; she knew that her sister’s anxiety came not from a desire to disobey, but more from the anticipation of what was coming.  And of course, the desire to get their unpleasant task over and done with.  The sitting woman took a deep breath as she thought about the spell her Father had told her and the small vial of blood that Raguel was carrying in her pocket. 

“Ramiel, you _know_ it is coming, as does Father.  Why should we wait when we could-“

“ _Patience_ , I said.”

Ramiel’s tone was firmer that time, but still not harsh.  She did not claim to know all the answers as to why their Father asked the things that He asked of them.  Perhaps He didn’t want them to go through with this mission if by some miracle their enemy did not resurface.  Or perhaps moving too early would accidentally reveal them to their other brothers and sisters in heaven, who had long believed both of them to be dead. 

It will be a newsflash to all of them to learn that the three remaining archangels were all actually _alive_.  Then again, most of the angels seemed to believe that their Father was dead as well, so that will probably be the bigger surprise when they realize that truth. 

Raguel sighed, and finally sat next to her sister, slouching a little into the bench.  But they did not remain there for much longer.  While the humans who surrounded the two of them would not know it, the two angels realized the moment they had been waiting to pass finally happened: the lock had just disappeared from this earth, opening the gate to the new apocalypse.  Only this one would be worse than the averted one from five years earlier, because it would consume not only this world, but all others.  It would mercilessly and indiscriminately devour everything on all planes of existence, Heaven and Hell included.  Perhaps that was why their Father finally decided to take a break from his “free will wouldn’t be free if I fixed every problem that humans made” philosophy and began to devise a plan to counterattack. 

But again, Ramiel would never say she knew always how her Father’s mind worked.  She just did as she was told, always having faith in Him.  Even now, she wished she did not have to travel to Kansas to do what He said needs to be done.     

\-------

Unlike their brothers and sisters, Ramiel and Raguel did not experience the fall, and so, their intact and powerful wings carried them instantly to their destination.  They stood outside the seemingly abandoned warehouse, though did not go in immediately.

“Something’s wrong.”

They both felt it, but Raguel was the one to voice it.  Something did not feel right; they could feel the presence of their brother inside, but it was twisted and warped and rabid.  The King of Hell was in there too, but his being there was not of their main concern.   

After their brief hesitation and a shared glance, they ran inside.

Saving the King of Hell from one of their brothers was something that neither Ramiel nor Raguel ever thought they would experience, but here they were, force-pushing a rabid Castiel back and away from Crowley.  The demon looked behind with a shocked look on his face, but upon seeing two angels – _archangels_ no less – he wasted no time in teleporting out of there, finding himself able to once Castiel was away from him.  Raguel cursed him after he disappeared, staring at the spot where he was last seen.  Admittedly, she was tempted to follow him and correct this mistake ( _what kind of angel_ saves _a demon rather than smites it_ , she scolded herself) but she knew that she had to keep her mind focused on the real task at hand.

“…Raguel…”  After hearing her sister’s voice softly calling to her, Raguel spun around again, to get a good look at their brother.  Her eyes widened and she took a sharp breath before clenching her jaw, anger and sadness simultaneously flaring up inside of her.  It hurt to see him, to see his torn and tattered wings, feathers falling and shriveling up, leaving the brittle bones exposed.  His very essence was broken and battered, with only a fraction of grace to be found within.

“How is this possible?  There’s no human spell that could do this!”  Raguel was, of course, commenting on the taint that flowed through Castiel, who was still against the wall.  He was growling and grunting and spitting as he tried to fight against Ramiel’s hold, his red eyes large and wild while blood streaked from them down his cheeks.  

“It’s probably because he has so little grace…he seems more human right now than angel,” Ramiel replied, trying to think of any way this spell could have possibly worked on an agent of heaven.  While the grace wasn’t enough to block the spell, it was what was keeping Castiel’s vessel in tact; Ramiel could feel the taint trying to rip his insides apart and the grace stitching everything neatly back together over and over again.  It must have been agonizing.  “We can’t do the spell with him like this.” 

Raguel sighed, looking around the room as if doing so would provide an instant cure to the curse.  “Let me guess…we’re going to have to do it?  I doubt the human witch who did this to him left any sort of other way to fix it.”

As she was speaking, Ramiel moved closer to Castiel, whose situation had yet to improve.  He was straining against her hold, and she found that she had to use more power than she thought would be needed in order to keep him there.  This was quite powerful magic…for a human spell, that is.  Regardless, she couldn’t do this for much longer…she needed enough power to complete her Father’s spell, which she had to be careful with.  It was, after all, God-level magic, and whenever someone other than God dealt with something like that, it was incredibly risky. 

“Yes, he’s going to have to be purified before we can do anything.”  The only way Ramiel would start the spell would be if Castiel was cured of this taint.

“Let me do it.  It’ll be too much for you to do both things,” Raguel insisted.  Ramiel nodded, still holding Castiel in place. 

“We don’t have a lot of time until the Winchesters show up here, you know,” Ramiel observed, as Raguel slowly approached Castiel, rolling her sleeves up to her elbows.  She laughed bitterly before looking back at her sister.

“You really think they care enough to come back here?  _Look_ at him!  They are the reason he is like this!  They are the reason _we_ are here to begin with!”  Raguel didn’t mean to shout, but she couldn’t help but raise her voice.  She blamed not only the release of the Darkness on those two boys, but she also blamed them for Castiel’s current condition. 

“They will,” Ramiel responded, narrowing her eyes.  While she didn’t have the highest opinion of the Winchesters either, she didn’t think they were so heartless as to leave their friend stranded here.

“If you say so.  Let’s get to it then.”  Raguel’s hand began to glow, and she closed her eyes, reaching into Castiel’s stomach, the way she would a human if she would be looking for their soul.  Immediately, her brother began to cry out; it was almost a gurgling sound due to the mixture of his rabid growls and painful screams. 

Outside, fires began to start around the warehouse.

\-----

Of _course_ Dean would back up the Impala into a pothole right as the Darkness was swarming towards it.  That’s just their luck, isn’t it?  Stuck in a hole as a powerful supernatural enemy came at them, threatening to destroy everything…this whole situation was just one big metaphor for the Winchester way of life. 

“Dean!”  As the cloud of smoke washed over the car, and darkness obscured his vision, Dean heard his brother call out to him.  Despite sitting right next to Sam, Dean could no longer see him; he reached over to grasp at Sam’s arm as a panic began to course through him.  It was just like when they were kids, all those times when Dean thought that he had lost Sam in the dark.  But back then, most of those situations ended up being nightmares, and Dean was able to climb into bed next to Sam after waking up and feel like – at least at that moment – that everything was going to be okay. 

Unfortunately, even as he held on to Sam’s arm, Dean did not feel that same relief.

_What had they done?_

The cloud seemed to circle the Impala, before dispersing into the sky.  Despite it being the middle of the morning, the Darkness obscured the sun and the stars, leaving only blackness above them. 

Dean turned the Impala’s headlights on, and with that small amount of light, was able to see Sam.  He felt like he should have been pleased, but he couldn’t help but feel angry.  Angry at both Sam and himself.  He just killed Death after summoning him to ask for his help.  He _killed Death_ – one of the most powerful and important beings in the universe – to save his little brother.  And said little brother, in trying so desperately to cure him of the Mark of Cain, just helped release an ancient force that neither one of them knew anything about (not to mention how to _fight_ it).  And surely, creating endless nighttime could not be the _only_ power this thing had.

“What the hell, Sam?”  Dean stared at Sam as he took his hand back, the anger beginning to overshadow the big brother instinct.  “I thought you stopped that whole cure business!”

Sam didn’t say anything.  The look he gave Dean was somewhat sorrowful, but not necessarily apologetic.  And he wouldn’t apologize for trying to cure Dean of that horrid thing that was on his arm.  But at the same time, he wasn’t sure he could definitely stand by his previous statement: ‘ _this is good_. _’_  

“Dean, the good thing now is that you’re cured,” Sam said, wording his sentence carefully.  “We can figure this out now-”

“Figure _this out_?  You think we can just figure out how to fix this?”  Dean almost shouted, while gesturing to the sky.

“Maybe Cas knows something,” Sam replied, trying to think practically.  The situation was done; they made their choices and now the younger Winchester wanted to stop fighting and focus on their new enemy and current situation. 

“You think if Cas knew anything about this shit he would have helped you?” 

“Yes.  Dean, he would.”  Sam’s response to Dean’s inquiry was instant, and sounded sure even though he wasn’t completely convinced of his own answer.  After all, Castiel had mentioned the danger of the possible consequences of curing the mark and hinted that maybe those consequences were greater than the reward of saving Dean…did he have a feeling that something bad was going to happen? 

“I doubt that.”  Dean knew that Castiel had a more ‘big picture’ mindset than either of them, and so, did not believe Sam.  Plus, there was also the guilt that sat in the pit of his stomach…no matter how much he tried to picture a different version of his best friend, all he could think of was the bloody and bruised version lying on the floor of the bunker, pleading with Dean.  Not even fighting back to defend himself.  Just asking him to stop.

_‘Dean…please…’_

Why would Cas want to help him after that?  Dean could still feel the breaking of Castiel’s bones under the force of his fists.  He could picture Castiel’s limp form being banged against that table over and over again.  An angel of the goddamn Lord, and Castiel couldn’t even be half-assed to defend himself against Dean.  That fact angered him, even though deep down he knew he had no right to be; how could Cas think so little of himself to just take a beating like that?  Why did he refuse to hurt him?  Why didn’t he just _fight back_?

It would be easier for Dean to deal with the whole thing if he had.

But Dean knew that Castiel would never intentionally hurt him.

“Where is he,” Dean then asked.  Sam looked away and answered that Cas was at the warehouse with Rowena.  “You left him alone with Rowena?”  Dean’s voice became louder, and a little more frantic. 

“Dean, I’m sure he could handle her.”

“Right, just like how Charlie was able to,” Dean spat back, spitefully.  It was maybe an unfair jab – Charlie was human whereas Cas was an angel, after all – but he still couldn’t help but blame Sam for her death.  She never should have gotten involved in all of this.  Sam said nothing in response, only looking away remorsefully.

“Call him,” Dean ordered, before getting out of the car.  He didn’t want to talk to Castiel himself, but he also wanted to make sure the angel was alright.  He made his way to the trunk, and opened it to pull out a flashlight.  Although the Impala’s lights were providing some source of light, the flashlight would make things easier in the artificial night.  He shined the light on the tire caught in the pothole.

“Dean.”  Sam then got out of the passenger side, staring at his phone.  “He’s not answering.”  While both Sam and Dean wanted to believe that Cas not answering was innocuous – maybe he was off watching bees or something dorky like that – they both knew that would be wishful thinking.  There’s no way that Cas would see this happening and _not_ contact them or answer his phone when they called. 

“Help me get her out of this damned hole,” Dean said in response, referring to the pothole the Impala’s tire was still stuck in.  They had to get out of here and back to Cas as soon as possible.

\-----

“The Winchesters are coming,” Ramiel informed her companion, feeling the presence of the two brothers suddenly becoming stronger and stronger.  Raguel was still in the middle of the purification process, and although it was necessary, listening to their brother’s screams was by no means pleasant. 

Raguel did nothing to acknowledge her sister’s warning, though Ramiel knew that she had heard her.  While she was not afraid of the Winchesters, she was nervous about them seeing the spell; their father had specifically said _not_ to bring to them any great harm, and there was no telling if it would have any adverse effects on any humans in the vicinity.  Truthfully, Ramiel did not completely understand her Father’s affections for the brothers, but again, she had faith in Him and so would follow his instructions as closely as possible.

It took a few more minutes for Raguel to finish purifying Castiel of that horrible curse the witch had subjected him to, and he passed out immediately.  _Good_ , Ramiel thought.  He shouldn’t be awake for the spell anyway.  Together, they picked him up and placed his unconscious form on the nearby table.  Despite the ticking clock, Ramiel took some time to carefully clean those terrible bloodstains that were still under Castiel’s eyes.  She smiled at him lovingly, yet sorrowfully.

“You get started, I’ll take care of the Winchesters when they get here,” Raguel said, before handing Ramiel the vial of blood that she was still carrying.  She then took out a regular knife and cut a vein in her arm, allowing the blood to spill out from under her skin and onto the floor beneath them.  Nodding, Ramiel followed suit, completing the same action and allowing her blood to fall on the same spot.  The third ingredient was what was in that vial – their Father’s blood. 

Ramiel did not need all of the blood yet, and so poured out only half of it onto the floor.  The other half was to be saved for later.  Once their Father’s blood – which was a deep red that looked almost like it was filled with starlight – mixed with their own, the spot began to softly glow blue-white. 

“Alright.  Let’s do this,” Ramiel said to herself, as if psyching herself up.  In truth she _was_ nervous; she had never had to perform any spell of this magnitude or importance before.  Softly, she began to chant the Enochian incantation that her Father had taught her before they left for Earth, and as she continued, that soft glow on the floor became more intense.

Raguel stood by and watched, wanting to keep an eye on her sister in this potentially dangerous situation.  But she also made sure she was focused on the Winchesters’ presence, which was getting ever closer and closer…

\-----

When Dean and Sam rolled up to the warehouse in the Impala, they were surprised to see several bushes either on fire or burnt out.  Dean remembered what Castiel said about when angels scream from torture…and what happened to that Alfie angel (Saman…something – Dean remembered the kid as Alfie), and he slammed on the breaks before quickly jumping out of the car.

“Dean…!”  Sam exchanged a quick look of panic with his brother, before both of them rushed inside, each pulling out their guns.  Normally, both would have been less reckless, since they did not know exactly what they would find in there, but this was _Cas_ , and judging from the outside of the warehouse, something had happened to him.  Cas was family, and when it came to family, the Winchesters weren’t ones to put logic over emotion.

Not that it would have mattered either way, because their enemy knew they were right outside, and was ready for them before they even entered the abandoned building.

Both Dean and Sam were effortlessly force thrown in opposite directions.  They crashed into their respective walls, each falling to the floor and groaning a bit in pain.  When they looked up, they saw two women they had never encountered before.  The one who had thrown them had an athletic, somewhat buff build, and jet black hair pulled back into a long ponytail.  She looked down at them angrily – almost disgusted really – while her companion kept chanting verses in some gibberish.  But it was gibberish that both brothers recognized after a few short seconds of listening to it.

“Enochian…so you two are angels?”  Sam asked while standing up.  He spoke before Dean could, though his tone inflection was more as if he was stating the obvious than actually inquiring.  Dean’s eyes fixated on the chanter, who was slimmer and had a darker complexion than her sister.  Below her, a spot on the floor was glowing that blue-white that he associated with angelic grace, and it made him a bit nervous.  

“Well, you certainly pick up on things fast,” the attacker said, mockingly.  But her face did not show any sort of amused expression to go with that tone.  Really, she still just looked angry.            

“What’d you do to Cas?”  Dean spat out after seeing Castiel unconscious on the table.  Fury and guilt rose in him; why was it lately that whenever Dean saw Castiel, the latter was hurt or about to be hurt in some way?  Dean remembered Claire asking him to keep an eye on Cas, and saying how he has been through enough.  So much for all that; Dean couldn’t help but think that Cas probably would’ve been better off as far away from him as possible.

“Really that is a question you ought to be asking yourself, Dean Winchester.  We wouldn’t be here if not for you and your brother rereleasing our ancient foe.”

Both Dean and Sam flinched at that, though didn’t say anything immediately in their defense. 

“And for the record,” the angel continued, “none of us wanted it to come to this.  But we need him to return to us.” 

Sam was about to ask what she meant by that, while Dean was still focused on Castiel and what the other angel was doing.  However, before the younger Winchester could say anything, the ground began to shake a little, and the spot which had been glowing started to rise from the floor.  It didn’t take Dean long to realize that what was coming out of the ground was angel grace.  The grace was extremely bright, brighter than any either brother had ever seen from any other angel.  And there was _a lot_ of it.

The chanting angel lifted her hands and seemed to guide the grace up from the floor and into the air.  She looked over at Castiel, and seeing her do so caused Dean to forget about her companion.  He sprung towards her, pulling out the angel blade he carried.  Whatever she was about to do to Cas, it obviously wasn’t good if neither one of them wanted to go through with it.

Before he could get even remotely close to her, however, her sister had Dean once again flying through the air and crashing into a wall, this time a bit more forcefully than the first.  Sam tried to rush to help him, but he too ended up flying across the room.  This angel was more on point than some of the previous ones they faced…or they were just both exhausted from the rest of the day’s events.  A part of Dean couldn’t help but wish that he still had that damned mark on his arm; if he still had it, these two winged douchebags wouldn’t be here, and even if they were, he would be better equipped to handle them. 

“You two might want to close your eyes.”  At the attacker’s suggestion, both humans actually did what they were told.  While they neither liked nor trusted most angels, they did know that when one of these so called agents of heaven said to shield your eyes, you did it, lest you end up with them burning right out of your skull.

The angel performing the spell guided the grace toward and into Castiel’s mouth, which had been slightly open in his unconsciousness.  As soon as all of it entered, a blinding light washed over him and enveloped the entire room for a few seconds.  The brothers kept their eyes shut until things darkened again.

The angel who had been performing the spell was bent over and clutching the table, breathing heavily.  Her nose was bleeding, and she was coughing almost violently.  Clearly, whatever she had to do just took a ton out of her.  But she still persisted, taking out a half-full vial of blood and pouring some of it on Castiel’s face.  Her hand was shaking, and she stumbled when she tried to straighten herself. 

“Ramiel!”  Her sister rushed over to her side, putting her arm around the other for support.  After asking if she was alright and receiving a weak nod in response, she then began to use the blood on Castiel to write some sort of sigil on his forehead and cheeks.  It was obviously angelic, and she was focused on her task.

Now was their chance.

Both Dean and Sam lunged at them, but even with the one called Ramiel severely hurt and drained, she was able to stop them in their tracks.  She didn’t have enough juice to push them away, but the brothers found themselves unable to move any closer.

Damn, they hadn’t encountered angels this tough since Lucifer and Michael…

Wait-

After finishing the sigils on his face, the woman ripped open Castiel’s shirt and poured the rest of the blood onto his chest.  Again, she outlined some angelic writing, and once she was done, said a small incantation.  The markings on Cas began to glow a few times before fading away. 

“What the fuck did you do to him?”  Dean couldn’t help shouting – he was obviously frustrated and scared for Cas.  Usually when angels got involved like this, things did not end up going great for any of them, but especially so for his best friend.

“Don’t worry, Dean Winchester,” the injured angel breathed out, her voice only slightly louder than a whisper, “he’s just been given better protection than all of us together could possibly provide him.  He must lie in stasis and recover now.”  She looked almost sad when she said that though, which gave Dean no comfort.  Despite what she said, it made him feel worse.

“Why would he need-”

But the angels disappeared.  What?  Didn’t the angels lose their wings in the fall?  Just who were those two?  And what _did_ they just do to Cas?

“Son of a bitch!”  Dean exclaimed, before scrambling over to his unconscious friend.  He shook him a few times, shouting out his name while doing so, in an attempt to wake him.  But his angel’s eyes did not open, and he remained limp and motionless.  Dean turned a bit to look at Sam.  They shared a distressed look with one another before looking back to Castiel.

They had no idea what to expect, and if it was possible, they felt that this whole Darkness thing was way worse than they had already thought.


	2. Shine on You Crazy Diamond

Sam and Dean stood at opposite ends of the table where Cas’ body still lay; Dean’s hands sometimes found their way on Castiel’s face – either checking for breathing or just as if he was trying to comfort the angel.  While watching, Sam knew that the comforting touches were more for Dean’s sake than their seemingly-lifeless friend’s.

“Dean.  What do you want to do?”  Of course Sam had an idea of what Dean was going to answer with, but the younger Winchester did not want to assume anything.  When it came to Castiel, his elder brother was at times unpredictable.

Dean took a little time before responding; he was still staring at the angel’s face, which looked so peaceful…so unlike how it was the last time he saw it.  The bruises and the blood covering his skin…all of which were only there because of Dean’s own two hands.  And his eyes…those bright blue eyes which were so sad when Cas had pleaded with him to just stop…

_Dean…please…_

Dammit why hadn’t he just _fought back_? 

“He’s coming with us, obviously.  Help me with him.”  Where they were going, Dean didn’t say.  The obvious choice was to return to the bunker but really…Dean had little desire to be there right now.  Too many memories awaited him at that place.  He was already having enough bad flashbacks, he didn’t need to have them while standing in the room where he beat the shit out of his best friend for no reason other than said best friend trying to help him.  This was, of course, after Dean went on a revenge-filled massacre.  A massacre which ended with Dean murdering some poor kid who did nothing but beg for his life.   No, the older Winchester had no desire to return to the bunker right now.  

Plus, well, if the Stynes were able to break into the bunker, then whatever this Darkness thing was going to bring probably could get in there too.  So perhaps it wasn’t as safe a haven as it previously was.

Together, Sam and Dean picked up Castiel and carried him outside to the Impala.  Gently, they laid him down in the back seat.  His shirt was still ripped open, though the markings that the angel had drawn on him in that blood were nowhere to be seen.  But just because the brothers couldn’t see them didn’t mean they weren’t _there_.  Angel magic was on a whole different level, Dean knew.

Sam watched as Dean began to rebutton Castiel’s shirt.  “That one angel…Ramiel?”  Sam didn’t know if his brother was really listening, or if he was too focused on his task, so he spoke as if he was talking to himself, trying to recall the one angel’s name.  “I think I’ve heard of her before.”  He opened the passenger side door and took his tablet out.  Thank god for 4G, otherwise he definitely would have had to wait until they got somewhere with wireless to conduct any sort of research, and Sam couldn’t help but be insanely curious at the moment.  

While he was searching the internet, Dean finished with Castiel’s shirt and then leaned on the Impala’s frame, keeping the back door open.  He watched Sam play with his tablet, and if he was feeling more up to it, he would have cracked a joke about how much of a nerd his little brother was being, especially given the intense look that Sam had on his face. 

“Yeah, here!  Ramiel is said to be one of the archangels in the Book of Enoch.”  When Sam spoke, Dean’s brow furrowed, and any potential jokes disappeared when the word ‘archangel’ was mentioned. 

“I thought there were only four arch-douches,” Dean replied.  Sam shook his head, continuing to stare at the screen in front of his eyes.

“Not according to this book.  Says here that the Book of Enoch discusses seven archangels, though doesn’t seem to agree on all the names.”  Sam continued to relay information.

“So wait, are you saying there might be three more out there somewhere?”  While Dean was not keen on angels, he would take more than a handful of regular angels than their more powerful brethren.  Given his experiences with Michael, Lucifer, Raphael, _and_ Gabriel (even though Gabriel ended up being not _as_ bad…but he did kill him a whole lot that one time), he just assumed that all the archangels were just major league dicks.

“Well, if this book is right and if that Ramiel is one of them…I just don’t know why we hadn’t heard of her existing before.  I mean…where was she five years ago?  Did she hide like Gabriel, do you think?”  Sam found it odd that all of a sudden they were dealing with the possibility of additional archangels when they hadn’t had to worry about them at all since Castiel killed Raphael.  Why wouldn’t these last missing three get involved in the civil war or the apocalypse for that matter? 

Dean shrugged. “Must’ve.”  It was the only explanation he could think of right now, anyway.  Perhaps also that was why those two still had their wings intact – if they were hiding out on Earth as different beings, then they would not have fallen like the rest of the angels.

“Ramiel is considered the ‘mercy of God’ or the ‘eternal compassion of God’,” Sam quoted.  “It is said that Ramiel is the archangel of hope, bearer of divine visions and truth, and gives blessings of joy to women.”  

“Alright, so perhaps only _slightly_ less of a dick than her brothers, good to know,” Dean said sarcastically.  Yes, while Biblical angels were soldiers and fierce, they were not as _good_ as scripture sometimes painted them out to be.  “So who was the other one?  She looked like she wanted to kill us, you know.”  Dean recalled the disgusted and angry look that the other angel had on her face; it made him slightly uneasy.    

“I don’t know.  From this, she could be either Zerachiel or Raguel.”  Uriel was another name on the potential list of seven, but they had already encountered him in the past, and he was no archangel.  “Zerachiel is the angel of the Sun and a protector of God’s angelic forces.  Raguel is said to be the archangel of justice, harmony, good will, and fairness, but also considered to be ‘God’s hitman’ and furious wrath.”

“Now that’s the archangel douchiness I expect.  Awesome,” Dean spoke, again using sarcasm to cover up his worry.  If those two were archangels, what did they do to Cas?  Definitely nothing good; Castiel and his archangel brothers did not exactly seem to have a solid familial relationship.  Dean didn’t care that Death said that the archangels helped fight back the Darkness so long ago; he didn’t trust them and he didn’t want them anywhere near Cas.

“We should probably head back to the bunker.  See if there’s more we can find out about,” Sam suggested.  Rather than arguing for the moment, Dean just closed the back door and went around to the driver’s side of the car.  He and Sam both got into the Impala, and Dean began to drive off, in the direction of the bunker, but still debating whether or not he would make a detour.

\-----

Although the drive back to the bunker from the warehouse was not lengthy, Dean did make a point to stop at a gas station first.  Not only did the Impala need gas, but he was hungry, and after all this wasn’t interested in cooking anything for himself and Sam.  Plus, this extra stop could give him more time to figure out a different place to go.  He really wanted to delay going back there as much as possible.

Sam stayed in the car while the older Winchester got out, going to unscrew the gas cap.  However, before he was able to actually start pumping the gasoline into his baby, a figure approached them.

“Winchesters,” the man said, ominously.  Well that was never a good sign.  Dean took his hands off the pump and Sam slowly got out of the car, hands on his gun.  “Nice to see you here.”

“Yeah, cause I’m thinking it’s real shitty to see you here,” Dean retorted.  The man just laughed, and took another step towards them, before showing his black eyes. 

Demon.

“You know, we wanted to thank you.  We have really been liking this new… _environment_ ,” the demon said, referring to, of course, the darkened sky above.  Sam narrowed his eyes, while Dean reached for the angel blade he carried.  Before he was able to get to it, unfortunately, another two demons stealthily came at him from behind, grabbing his arms and pinning them behind his back.  Sam called out his older brother’s name but before he was able to do anything to help, three more demons swarmed him and did the same.  The Winchesters struggled against their captors, who surprisingly were doing nothing more to harm them.  But even struggling was exhausting…it seemed as though this Darkness thing had made them more powerful.

The head demon walked over and grabbed the angel blade that Dean had unfortunately dropped.  He smirked as he held it up to his face.  “You’re pathetic now that you don’t have that gift on your arm.  Such a shame for you, Dean.”  Dean felt his lip twitch in irritation, but he also couldn’t help but agree somewhat with the demon.  If he still had the mark, these bastards all would have been dead by now.  But then again…Sam might’ve been in that body count too, depending on how loud the mark was.

“Yeah?  I think it’s a shame for you; it’ll just take me a little longer to kill you sons of bitches,” Dean countered.  Sam watched this exchange carefully, trying to figure out a way to turn the tables around before anything bad happened. The demon laughed loudly, and another four walked over from the convenience store, probably having just killed or possessed the innocents inside.  

“Really Dean, try to make your threats at least somewhat believable.”  The demons dragged the Winchesters away from the Impala, while the leader peaked into the back seat at the still unconscious Castiel.  “Now what’s this?  Your angel seems to be sleeping on the job.”  He sent a cruel smile towards the brothers, and Dean especially suddenly felt panicked.  _No._

_Cas…wake up you idiot!_

The demon opened the back door.  Dean called out for Castiel, hoping that at least hearing his voice would wake the angel, but Cas did not budge.  He remained in his coma, breathing softly even as demons lured over and then dragged his limp form from the car and onto the pavement.

“Now that we have this eternal night, there’s no room for angels in this universe,” the main demon said, licking his lips while continuing to stroke the angel blade. 

“No!  Don’t you dare-  I’ll kill all of you!”  Dean could hear the worry in his voice, despite his trying to sound threatening.  Sam too, was panicking, but he did not say anything, as he was still trying to come up with some semblance of a plan to get out of this.

But he was coming up with nothing.

“No!  _Cas!_ ”  Dean shouted as the demon began to plunge the angel blade down towards Castiel’s chest.  However, right before it could pierce his skin, a shockwave pulsated out from the angel.  The markings that his sisters had put on him reappeared and began to glow white.

At first, nothing intense seemed to happen.  The demons were just pushed back, forced to let go of the brothers, who hadn’t felt any force from the pulse.  Just as the two were about to turn and fight their enemies, however, the demons all had begun to scream.  Their screams did not stop Dean from rushing over to Castiel, however.  The angel’s face was still peaceful, as if nothing had happened and he was still just sleeping quietly.

Slowly, the demons were vaporized, one by one, piece by piece.  They screamed in agony as a white light enveloped them and then smote them completely, while Sam and Dean just watched.  Dean looked to the demons, back at Cas, and then once again back to the demons.  

_…he’s just been given better protection than all of us together could possibly provide him._

Dean remembered what the angel Ramiel had said before disappearing.  Thus must have been what she was referring to.  That shockwave that came from Cas hit an entire area, but only seemed to target the enemies, as if it knew who was threatening and who wasn’t, despite the fact that technically only _one_ demon was attacking Castiel. 

What kind of angel magic was able to do something like _that_?  Neither Sam nor Dean ever heard of that, and they easily assumed that Cas hadn’t either (he hopefully would have mentioned something as powerful as this if he knew about it, at least).

“What the hell was that?”  Sam asked, still staring at where a demon formerly stood.  Now, the only thing that was in that spot was a large pile of ashes.  Dean looked at the ashes, to Sam, and then back to Castiel, whose body was in his arms, still limp and heavy. 

“You think _I_ know?  Must’ve been whatever those archangels did to him,” Dean replied.

“Well, good thing,” Sam breathed a sigh of relief.  But Dean couldn’t help but get annoyed with him.

“Good thing?  Sam, they _did something to him_!  And we have no idea what it was but apparently it required some crazy sort of protection.  I don’t know, something doesn’t seem right,” Dean expressed.  Yeah, was it good that they were no longer meat for a bunch of powered-up demons?  Of course.

“You know I didn’t mean it like that Dean,” Sam said, also getting irritated.  He knew Dean was worried about Cas, but he was acting as if Sam wasn’t _also_ worried.  He was, he just was also more practical; if it hadn’t been for whatever just came from Cas, all three of them could potentially be dead or worse.

Sam had a feeling Crowley had put out some sort of bounty on him after what had happened the other day between them.  He was not interested in being the King of Hell’s torture plaything after trying to kill him and apparently reawakening his more demonic self.

“We can’t go back to the bunker, Sam.” Dean finally said, picking up Castiel and gently placing him back into the car.  Sam looked confused.

“What?  Why?”

“Because there’s no way that it is completely safe right now.  There might be more demons or whatever around.  We don’t want any of them following us there.”

Sam thought for a moment before conceding, “Good point.  Where do you suggest we go, then?”

Dean sighed, walking back around to the driver’s side of the Impala.

“I don’t know.  I’ll just…drive.” 


	3. Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress

They were on the road for a few hours.  Most of the trip was spent in silence; Dean really wasn’t in the mood to talk about anything, despite that he and Sam had a ton they admittedly did need to discuss.  Sam fell asleep at some point, and although Dean was tired himself, he didn’t think he would be able to sleep without having nightmares.  So instead of stopping for a while, he just put on his favorite Zeppelin album and tried to focus only on the music, trying to avoid any deep thoughts about the Darkness, about Cas, about killing Death…basically about anything that had happened in the past 48 hours.  He just concentrated on the music and on the road.  

Eventually, however, even Zeppelin could not keep Dean from struggling to keep his eyes open.  Driving in this darkness was almost hypnotic, and it made him feel more exhausted.  It was then he decided to veer off and find a motel in order to get his four hours.

The motel Dean stopped at was in a small town in South Dakota.  The building was a bit shoddy, but at least it seemed clean enough for what it was (and Dean was not about to put a blacklight to whatever room they ended up in – in this case, ignorance was bliss indeed).

After booking a spot for them to crash, Sam helped Dean carry Castiel into the room and placed him gently on one of the two beds.  He still hadn’t even stirred since they first reunited with him, a fact which tied Dean’s stomach into knots.  The only evidence of life from Cas was the soft breaths he was taking along with the rising and falling of his chest. 

“You know, it looks like the news is calling this some sort of bizarre lengthened eclipse.”  Sam was looking through his tablet again, wanting to see how the news was going to characterize what happened without the explanation of the supernatural.  If it became common knowledge that the myths and gods that people thought fake were all actually real (not to mention ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and all those monsters too), there surely would be a mass panic.  Such panic would definitely be worse for them all in the end.

“Mmmhmm.”  Dean just hummed an affirmation that he had listened, but he was far too tired and didn’t care enough at the moment to really have a conversation about what Sam was looking into.  He placed some of his essentials on the small round table in the room – gun, whiskey, wallet…that was basically it.  He then looked over at Castiel, still feeling worried for the angel.

“You can take the other bed,” Sam offered, after noting just how tired his brother was.  “I’ll take the floor.”  Although Sam really didn’t _want_ to sleep on the floor, Cas was already taking one bed and Dean hadn’t been able to get some sleep in the car.  After what happened at the gas station with Cas, Sam really didn’t want to share the bed with him, and he had a feeling Dean was in a similar boat (not to mention Dean would probably get all weird about it regardless because he was like that, especially with respect to Castiel).

“Right.  Thanks.”  Dean took Sam up on that and tossed him a pillow and one of the blankets on his bed.  He really didn’t need two of everything.  Without giving it a second thought, Dean then plopped down on the bed after taking off only his shoes and passed out within seconds. 

Sam, meanwhile, had a much harder time falling asleep on the floor (he knew that his right shoulder was going to be sore a little tomorrow for sure), but eventually he too drifted off.

Only one of them had nightmares, though.

\-----

_Bones crushed bones as knuckles became stained red._

_Expressive blue eyes looking up, showing no anger, only hurt and sadness._

_Emotionless green eyes looking down, hiding the battle raging within._

_A whisper, and a plea to stop._

Kill him

_I can’t._

Kill him.

_A throbbing pain in one arm, filling his head with murderous thoughts._

He will leave, just like he always does.  Kill him now.  Kill him before he leaves.

 _I_ won’t _._

Kill him.  Kill him.  **Kill him _._**

_A sharp blade piercing skin, pushing into flesh._

_A blinding light.  Wings scorched into the ground._

_‘Dean…please…’_

\-----

“Cas!”

Dean shouted the angel’s name as he violently woke up from his nightmarish sleep.  He looked over; Castiel was still comatose, but no wing marks.  Dean sighed.  That dream felt so real.  He scratched his arm where the mark of Cain once was, staring down at the spot and imagining the ugly scar.

Making sure not to wake up Sam – who must have been completely out if he hadn’t woken up from Dean screaming his best friend’s name – Dean got up and walked over to the small round table which he had placed his bottle of whiskey just a few hours earlier.  Not bothering to pour himself a glass, he opened it up and took a swig.  At this point in his life, the alcohol didn’t even burn as he swallowed it; it was as if it was water with how smoothly it went down his throat. 

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep without dreaming of Castiel, Dean picked up Sam’s tablet.  He figured he might as well do something productive to take his mind off of his nightmare.  He opened up the page about the angels that Sam had been looking at earlier, focusing on the angel they knew was in the warehouse earlier: Ramiel.

The archangel seemed to have a decent amount of jobs, between handing out divine visions, to bringing joy to women, escorting the dead to the afterlife, being God’s thunder and mercy.  Obviously, there were differing interpretations of the angel depending on which denomination or scripture was referring to her, but overall, these descriptions made her seem less of a monster than her angelic brethren.  Not that that made Dean feel any more comfortable with the idea of her; most likely these accounts just did not capture how dickish she truly was.  Plus, whoever was Ramiel’s companion obviously had more in common with her older archangel brothers, judging just by the hateful and angry stares she gave to Sam and Dean.

What was that name that Sam said that the other one could have been?  Raguel, was it?  Well that was one of them anyway; Dean couldn’t recall the other one right now – blame it on still being too tired.  Dean went to the page on her, and…yep.  Much more classical angel-dickery.  God’s hitman, who He apparently sent to smite luminaries who broke His laws or otherwise insulted Him.  So she was the one to carry out His petty vengeances against humans who stepped out of line.

“God’s such a douchebag,” he whispered to himself.

“Oh now, I don’t think He’s all _that_ bad.”  A soft unrecognizable female voice replied, and Dean stood up, looking around for whomever the voice belonged to.  No one was in the room besides him, Sam, and Cas, however.

“Now, now, there’s no need for alarm, Dean Winchester.”  Dean looked toward the door; black smoke was flowing into the room from through the cracks.  But this was not the black demon smoke that he was so used to.  No, this was different; this was more like the black smoke that covered the Impala after the mark was ripped from his arm.

“Sam.  Sam!  Get up!”  Dean shouted, going for his gun.  Sam jolted awake, and was about to ask his older brother what was wrong, but he almost immediately noticed the smoke himself.  Quickly, he scrambled to his feet, reaching for his own weapon on the table.

“And there’s certainly no need for _those_ ,” the voice sighed, almost as if she was exasperated.  Right after she said that, the handles of the guns became extremely hot, forcing Sam and Dean to let go of them.  It was only after the weapons hit the ground when the door swung open.

A hooded and seemingly middle-aged woman strode through the door, the black smoke surrounding her feet.  She was pale with auburn hair, wearing a black cloak and a dark medieval-looking gown rather than any sort of modern clothing.  Although she did not _look_ threatening, both brothers felt incredibly apprehensive when they saw her.

“Let me guess.  You’re The Darkness?”  Sam asked, though with a harsh tone.  The woman smiled – too warmly for Dean’s taste, honestly – before responding.

“Well that is what Death calls me, anyway.”

“Called,” Dean corrected.  The woman tilted her head a little while looking at him, like how angels always did when they were confused by something…like how _Cas_ did when he didn’t understand a reference or when he took something too literally.  The comparison made Dean dislike this woman even more.  “I killed him.”

But to that, she laughed softly.  “My dear, do not be so arrogant; you did not _kill Death_ ,” she said while smiling.  “You really think Death would trust you with the scythe that could in theory kill him?”

Dean and Sam looked at each other nervously.  “But…we saw him…”

“Death is eternal.  He cannot truly ever be killed.  I feel his presence still around in this universe…though he himself is no longer on this particular planet.  I think the two of you have angered him.”

The brothers didn’t want to believe her, but if she _was_ telling the truth, then they couldn’t help but feel screwed.  They released this Darkness _and_ had one of the most powerful beings in the universe, whom they thought they killed, on their bad sides?  Yeah, that was definitely going to bite them in the asses eventually.

“Regardless,” she continued, “I wanted to meet the two of you.  To thank you for releasing me from my prison.”  The way she spoke, as if she was _honestly and truly grateful to them_ made Dean grit his teeth and Sam uncomfortable. 

“Trust me lady, you’re going right back in there,” Dean countered, his voice sounding way more confident than he actually felt. 

“Oh I don’t think so.”

“What, you’re going to kill us?  And then the rest of the world?”  Sam chimed in.  

To that, the woman looked offended.  “Kill you?  Why would I do that?  As I said, I wanted to thank the two of you.  Besides, I am not some malevolent force that runs around just killing things.  Do not mistake me for those demons in Hell.”

Sam scoffed.  “Yeah.  Like we’re supposed to believe that.”

She shrugged.  “You will see eventually.  I am not evil, Samuel.  I am _freedom_.”

Dean’s eyes narrowed.  “Freedom?  Lady, you and I have completely different definitions of that word.”

“On the contrary,” she said, while striding gracefully across the room.  “I existed before the light and will exist again after it is extinguished.  I am the natural state of things – a universe without the bounds of morality and order that Yahweh implemented.”

“Yahweh…you mean God?”  Sam asked, just for clarification.

“Yes, I suppose that is how many of you refer to Him.  My Darkness and His Light are not what you would refer to as evil and good.”  She explained, before walking over to where Castiel was passed out on the bed.  “No, He implemented a system of artificial rules into this world and others, which had been pure and free beforehand.”

“Don’t touch him!”  Dean exclaimed just as the woman stretched out her hand to Castiel’s face.  Sam couldn’t help but glare at Dean – perhaps the self-defense mechanism that Castiel was currently sporting would have been able to help them out right then.  Of course, Dean _remembered_ the spell; he just didn’t want her grubby hands all over Cas, no matter what happened as a result.  She stopped suddenly just to look at Dean for a moment, a slightly amused expression on her face.  

“I won’t hurt him, I promise.”  Of course, her promise did not provide the brothers with any comfort, and she caressed the angel’s cheek with her hand.  Again, that shockwave pulsated from Castiel, but unlike the demons, the personification of the Darkness did not seem to feel it.  The only evidence of the wave hitting her was her hood flying back and off her head, showing more of that reddish-brown hair of hers.

“It has been a while since I’ve felt your presence.  Yahweh has you well protected while you recover, I see.”

Dean and Sam exchanged a confused look.  “Wait, how do you know him?”  It was Sam who inquired.

“Ignoring the fact that I know all…I have personally met this one many years ago.  During the war,” she responded, almost nostalgically.  “It is no surprise that Yahweh tried to protect him for so long.  He always did have a soft spot for his seventh, and I suppose He wanted to take no chances after the Morningstar fell.”

“The seventh…archangel?”  Dean asked, his mouth staying open in his shock.  He looked from the woman to Castiel.  No, Cas was powerful – truthfully more before he lost and regained his grace – but he wasn’t _archangel_ powerful.  Besides…he himself said he wasn’t.  There’s no way he had been lying to them all these years.  No, she was the one who was lying.  Just to mess with their heads.  

“Yes, but I will spare you the details on that one.  It will be…more interesting for you two to figure that out when he comes to.”

“Wait!” Sam shouted, as the woman turned around towards the door.  “What are you talking about?  What did those two angels do to him?”

“Those two…you mean Ramiel and Raguel, yes?  They restored him.”  She said nothing more as she walked in the direction of the exit.  “Also, I would give you two this advice,” she expressed, her voice only slightly louder than a whisper, “when the war begins, try not to get involved.  Your little apocalypse from five years ago means nothing compared to what is about to come.”  Her voice sounded ominous, but not necessarily threatening.  It was almost as if she truly was trying to protect them from some terrible calamity (and as if she herself _wasn’t_ said terrible calamity). 

“Oh, and,” she continued, turning her head in their direction one last time.  “You may call me Chaos, if you so wish.”

With that, she strode out the door as gracefully as she came in, disappearing into the blackness outside.


	4. Back in White

Days went by.  Days went by and Castiel still didn’t wake up, Chaos never returned, and the two archangels Raguel and Ramiel refused to answer the prayers the brothers reluctantly sent their way.  They researched Chaos but found little other than what she had told them – that she existed before everything and was the primeval void before even God’s creation.  A being that truly could not be killed, it seemed.  She existed in Greek mythology, but there was still nothing about how to kill her, and the brothers doubted that they would be able to kill her in a similar manner to other pagan gods.  The only way to turn this whole thing around and to avoid this catastrophic war that she had spoken of, they thought, was to throw her back into the prison from which they had sprung her.  It was five years ago all over again, but somehow on a much larger scale.

Only problem was trying to figure out exactly _how_ to trap her again.  And since no angel of heaven was answering their calls, and no demons would likely know about this particular entity, they were stuck.

And when they were stuck, the Winchesters did what they did best: they found jobs and worked.

Something about this darkness caused much more activity among the supernatural than normal, as cases seemed to appear everywhere.  It seemed as though for every monster that they took down, another two became bolder and took its place.  And they were _stronger_ , all of them.  Not only that, but this eternal night seemed to affect humans also – normal crimes of human on human violence were increasing steadily.  Murders, especially, seemed to be more commonplace, with people – mostly kids – going missing faster than ever.  What kind of destructive hold did this Chaos have over everyone?

So far, Sam and Dean didn’t think they themselves were experiencing any changes.  But they did not know if it was because the Darkness was acting slower on them than others, or that Chaos herself was actively not affecting them due to her ‘gratitude.’  The brothers couldn’t help but hope it was more the former – they hated the idea that this monster was thankful to them, even though she _did_ owe her freedom to them.  That conversation was one that Sam and Dean kept avoiding; five years ago, their love saved the world.  Now, it seemed as though their love may end up contributing to its destruction. 

It was not a path they liked to think about.

Dean still had his thoughts – that evil followed them wherever they went, and thus, they must be at least somewhat evil themselves.  Sam, on the other hand, clung to his idea of goodness; that they helped people and wanted to do the right things and yeah…they made mistakes but those mistakes did not make them _evil_.  It made them _human_. 

It was an argument neither one of them was interested in having again for the time being.

So they worked.

They worked for about two weeks, carrying Castiel from motel room to motel room.  Dean insisted that they still could not return to the bunker just yet, and while Sam disagreed, he allowed Dean to continue to pick the places to go.  Sam had a feeling that this was not about the bunker being safe or not, but something different; something deeper, which Dean would not be so quick to disclose.

The most recent case involved a trio of skinchangers in a small remote town in Wisconsin.  When the brothers had finished, it was the sixteenth night since Chaos had visited them in South Dakota.  Castiel still hadn’t woken up, but Dean was constantly checking to make sure the angel was still alive.  He was obviously still worried, and was beginning to lose hope that Cas would wake up any time soon. 

At around midnight, while Sam and Dean were searching for a new case for them to tackle, there was a light flutter of wings and suddenly the two archangels they had previously encountered were standing in the room.  The brothers jumped – no matter how many times Castiel used to do that to them, they still were not used to the whole teleportation thing.  Plus they hadn’t had to deal with it in around two years.

“Winchesters,” the one they now knew was Raguel greeted them when she appeared.  “We are here to bring our brother back to Heaven.”  Ramiel kept her eyes on said brother as her sister spoke; she was looking much better than the last time Sam and Dean saw her, but she still looked tired at best.

At Raguel’s statement, Sam was about to protest, but Dean was the first to speak, rushing toward Castiel’s body.  “Like hell you are!”  Dean just didn’t want them to take Cas anywhere, but Sam was doubly nervous due to the fact that they broke into the place, busted out their most dangerous prisoner, and then subsequently lost him somewhere.  And now, Metatron was running around with the demon tablet only God knows where and Sam knew that the angels would probably want to punish Castiel in some way.

“Step aside _human_ ,” Raguel hissed, her eyes showing the true depth of her anger.  There was something behind it; something _personal_.  Sam felt as though this particular archangel had a vendetta against him and Dean specifically. 

Suddenly, Dean had pulled out his angel blade, with Raguel following suit.  Sam was sure it was about to come to blows if her sister did not intervene.  “Stop this.  Violence isn’t necessary.”  Raguel looked back at Ramiel, who gave her a stern look, as if she was silently telling her to back off.  Surprisingly, Raguel obeyed.  It was clear who the older sibling was in this relationship.  “We are under direct orders from our Father.  He also has told us that He wishes to speak with the two of you.”

“ _God_ wants to speak with us?  Wait a minute…you have seen God?  He’s alive?”  Sam had so many questions he wanted to ask.  Dean just stood where he was, protectively guarding Castiel, while he too looked both shocked and confused.

“Yes, to all three of your questions,” Ramiel replied.  “Father never left.  He has been respecting your choice and hasn’t chosen to intervene.”

“Respecting our…our _choice_?”  Dean couldn’t believe what he just heard.  How _dare_ she-

“Yes.”

“You think we _chose_ to go through all this shit?  To have these miserable fucking lives?”

“Yes.”

At her very matter-of-fact response, Dean had no response other than a silent and shocked moment before bitter laughter.  Ramiel sighed.  “We have no time for this right now.  These are issues you may discuss with Him, if He allows it of course.”

“No.”  Sam stared at Dean after his brother said that.  Really?  Dean was going to let this get in the way of meeting _God Himself_? 

“Dean-”

“No, Sammy.  Look, the guy doesn’t give a shit about us, alright!  He’s obviously an uncaring asswipe.  No,” he countered, before looking down at Castiel.  “Respect that, you winged bitches.”

Sam looked back at the two angels; Raguel looked almost livid, obviously not happy with the blasphemous things Dean was saying about her lord Father.  Ramiel, however, had a neutral expression.  Behind that blankness though, Sam could swear she felt sorrowful in this moment.

“We cannot.  All three of you are coming with us.”  She disappeared from her spot and instantly reappeared behind Dean.  Before he could do anything other than turn around, she had two fingers pressed against his forehead, and he passed out immediately next to Castiel.  She then turned to Sam.  “I don’t need to do the same to you, do I?”  She sounded more like a scolding parent than a powerful archangel, but Sam didn’t let her tone of voice fool him from whom she truly was. 

“No.”

“Good.  Come take my hand.”  Sam did as he was told.  Before Ramiel left, however, she waited for Raguel to grab hold of Castiel and then disappear.  Once her companion was gone, she held onto Dean’s arm with her other hand, and then Sam all of a sudden felt a serious case of whiplash.

\-----

They landed in water.  _Under_ water to be more precise.  Dean had woken up at once, and he and Sam raced toward the surface.  When they did, they gasped for air, having to deal with not only the nausea from the flying, but also suddenly being unable to breath and being submerged.

“What the fuck!?”  Dean shouted when he was finally able to catch his breath.  He and Sam looked around; the water was clear and almost looked like it was sparkling, and they saw a beach in the near distance.  The sands were pure white, and there were two figures standing there.  Only…

“Holy shit.”

Both brothers could see the six large wings that each archangel had – Ramiel’s were mostly white with a teal tint, while Raguel’s were white with a navy tint; the two had very similar styles.  The brothers stared in awe for a moment – even with the distance, and despite the fact that neither one of the sisters had stretched them out – those wings were magnificent.       

After recovering from their sense of wonder, both Dean and Sam swam toward the shore.  Once they got close enough, they could also see that both Ramiel and Raguel were wearing more traditional angelic garb – each adorned in white robes. 

“So is there a reason why you decided to dump us in this lake?” 

“That _lake_ is our Father’s holy waters.  You had to be cleansed before you could walk in His sanctuary,” Raguel practically spat, still obviously bitter about the fact that the two Winchesters were even in this sacred place.

“Where is Cas?”  Sam asked before Dean could; he knew that Dean was going to continue being antagonistic, so he softened his tone so as to not anger the archangel any more than she already was.    

“He is in the pool.”  She offered nothing else, as if that answer alone was going to be enough description for either of them.

“Come, we must take you to our Father,” Ramiel then ordered, cutting off any other possible questions that Dean or Sam could have had.

It seemed like they were walking for over an hour before they hit anything other than beach.  Not that Dean really minded – he had wanted to go to a beach and have the sand in between his toes.  Just…he did not ever think that the first beach he would end up at would be one in heaven, and that he would be walking along it with two archangels who refused to acknowledge any questions that he and Sam tried to ask.  The brothers had been ordered to remove their shoes while walking on the sands, so they carried them while sometimes feeling the cool tide rush over their feet.

The archangels finally turned and beckoned the two humans to follow them.  They entered what looked like a rainforest; it resembled the garden that Dean and Sam met Joshua five years ago.  The trees were bright and green, and vibrant flowers and other plants adorned the area in colors. 

Again, they walked for a long time in silence.

“Wait here,” Ramiel suddenly said, drawing Sam and Dean out of their respective trances.  They did as they were told, as the two angels walked forward and out of sight.  Luckily, this time, the brothers were not kept waiting for very long before a guide returned to them.  But this guide was not one of the two that they had been following for so long now. 

No, this angel had a familiar face and a mischievous smirk, his slicked back light brown hair looking only slightly longer than the last time they saw him.  His six grand – significantly larger than his sisters’ – wings were bright and golden, almost glowing.  “Hey boys,” he greeted them, as if they _hadn’t_ believed him to be dead for so many years.

“Gabriel?!” Sam’s mouth was agape when he saw the archangel, his eyes darting back and forth between his face and those magnificent wings.  Dean’s eyes were wide in shock, and the two of them couldn’t get over the feeling of surprise to be angry.  “I…we…”

“Thought I was dead?  What, you think Luci stabbing me in the chest with an archangel blade was enough to kill me?”  Gabriel laughed as he spoke, almost as if all of this was something to find amusement in. 

“Well.  Yeah!”

“Honestly, I thought so too,” Gabriel replied, suddenly becoming more serious.  “But I guess Daddy decided that He wanted to rescue me and brought me here to heal and all that junk.  Lucifer did do a number on me, I’ll admit.  But I’m almost back to being fit as a fiddle!”

“Wait,” Sam said, as Gabriel was about to turn around.  “Where are we, exactly?”

“Oh this place?  This is Dad’s personal sanctuary.  Only He knew about it for a while, and then He brought me here.  Raguel and Rami were already here, but they were asleep for a long ass time.  They’ve only woken up kind of recently.  So now only we know about it.  It’s still heaven; just a remote corner that no one knew existed.”  Gabriel outstretched his arms and wings, almost as if he was showing them off to the brothers.  “Kind of cool that the waters let you guys see these bad boys.”

“The water did that?” Sam asked, curiously.  Gabriel nodded.

“Yep, that and cleanse your bodies and souls and all that fun stuff.  Can’t walk around here and can’t look at Daddy without the cleansing.  You two are the first humans to be allowed here.”  The archangel then turned his back to them and waved his hand, beckoning them to follow him.       

This time they were not walking for very long, and unlike his sisters, Gabriel talked to the Winchesters, which made their journey feel a bit faster.  He explained how he thought he was going to die at Lucifer’s hands, but somehow God rescued him from that eternal darkness.  He was apparently in stasis for around two years, and woke up in the pool with his Father looking over him.  “Tears were shed, reunions had, yadda yadda yadda all that sappy junk.”  Admittedly, Gabriel had been incredibly angry at God when he came to, but that anger came from hurt and it really wasn’t long before he was crying and asking for his Father’s forgiveness for everything.  Somehow God had that effect on people, he clarified, especially angels.  Since he came to, Gabriel explained, he had still been recovering, hence why he hadn’t been able to return to Earth.

“Wait, he couldn’t instantly fix you?”  The brothers were confused; Cas had been brought back almost instantly from death a few times now.  Why was Gabriel a different case?  The archangel just shrugged, however. 

“Nope, and don’t know why.  He wouldn’t tell me anything, for some reason.  He just said it was complicated and had to do with my being an archangel and stuff.  I stopped asking.” 

They came across a small pool with a large waterfall that seemed to extend forever into the sky.  Ramiel and Raguel were standing at the edge, speaking with each other in Enochian.  Sam and Dean could see a man’s figure on the water.  He was dressed in white and looming over a familiar person floating unconscious in the pool.

“Cas!”  Dean shouted, recognizing his angel immediately; he jumped into the pool without a second thought.  Unlike the man in white, Dean fell into the water, finding it to be much deeper than he had originally thought.  But before he could swim over, Raguel had stretched her wings and flew over him, grabbing his arm and pulling him out.  She dropped him down hard on the ground before landing, glaring at him.  He returned that glare wholeheartedly.  He really did not like that one.

“Dean…” Sam said his brother’s name to get his attention.  “Look…”  He pointed out toward the man, who had started walking over to them.  In lieu of a face, the only thing the brothers saw as He walked toward them was a bright white light, and said light got more intense as He got closer and closer.  The two had to close and shield their eyes with their arms, waiting for the light to die down a little.  Meanwhile, the three archangels knelt down, showing respect to their almighty Father.  

“Rise,” He commanded the angels, who did as they were told.  “Sam.  Dean.  Open your eyes.”  God spoke gently to the humans, and when they did as they were told, the light faded, revealing His face.

“Chuck…?”

The man they once knew as the prophet Chuck Shurley stood in front of them, though instead of the haggard mess that he appeared to be the last time they saw Him, he appeared well-kept and rested.  Though that rested look betrayed how He actually felt, especially with Chaos now released back into the world.

Dean soon got over his shock and couldn’t help himself.  “You son of a-” This guy was _there_ when the apocalypse happened and did _nothing_ to help them!  Even when Cas had been searching for Him…what, did He deliberately make sure that the angel wouldn’t be able to find Him?  Did He not care that they suffered so much?  Did He not care that Cas was heartbroken about his apparent abandonment?  Dean grabbed Chuck’s shirt in one hand and used the other to punch God right in the face.  Of course, it did nothing but hurt Dean’s hand tremendously, but it did feel at least somewhat satisfying. 

“How dare-!”  Raguel looked like she was about to smite Dean right there, but Chuck held up his hand to stop her from doing anything.  “Father, I don’t like-”

“Dean has cause to be angry with me.  As does Sam.  Though, I do want to tell you, Dean, that five years ago, I was always betting on you.  And on humanity.  I knew you two would stop Michael and Lucifer.  I’m just sorry for how it had to be done,” God said, surprising everyone who was standing there.  Dean couldn’t help but still be frustrated, unfortunately.

“Right, well excuse me if I don’t forgive you just like that.”

“Dean.  Sam.  I wanted to see what you would choose.  You had the chance to choose peace and paradise and you did not.  You chose free will.”

“So, what, this is all _our_ fault?”

“Is that why you didn’t get involved in anything?”  Sam spoke up, wanting to diffuse the obvious tension (despite being angry himself), and also asking because he was genuinely curious.  Chuck nodded.

“Yes.  You chose free will and with that comes consequences.  If I came in and fixed every mistake that humanity made, then free will wouldn’t necessarily be free.  And since that freedom seeped into the angels as well, I did not want to interfere with their doings either.”  He looked up for a moment before smiling.  “Though I’ve heard that Hannah has things running even better than I did when I was around.  Always had potential, that one.”  In His head, he made a mental note to promote her to seraph.  She deserved it.  She stepped up and did something not many other angels had been able to do. 

It made sense, really.  A lot of the problems that befell them after the apocalypse were the result of choices – Castiel’s choices, Dean’s choices, Sam’s choices, Metatron’s choices, Crowley’s choices, Rowena’s choices…they actively _chose_ to do certain things, and those things had problems attached to them.  While both Sam and Dean understood the philosophy behind God’s isolationist policy, only Sam was a bit more forgiving because of it.  Dean still felt angry.

“So why get involved now?”  Sam asked.

Chuck sighed, giving the two of them the look of a disappointed parent.  “Chaos is someone who will devour everything.  Earth, heaven, hell, other planets… _everything_.  I won’t lie; I was hoping you two would do the right thing like you did five years ago, but you are human.”

“What, so you wanted me to kill Sam?”  Dean angrily interrupted.  God sighed.

“In that instant, yes.  It is what your choices led to, and instead of doing what was best for the universe, you did what was best for each other.  And because of that, you rereleased an enemy that I was lucky to be able to defeat so many millennia ago.”  When Chuck spoke, that disappointed tone stung both brothers, who felt like they were children whose father was scolding them for doing something bad.  “Not to mention you angered Death, and now I won’t be able to convince him to help me in this fight.”

“Yeah, Chaos said I didn’t kill him…”

“You didn’t.  That scythe he gave you was not the one that could – in theory anyway – kill him.  It was a test.  A test you failed.  Since then, he has left this planet and is spending time elsewhere.  He’s refused to get involved in this, since he said he won’t help the two of you ‘clean up your messes anymore’.”  The brothers exchanged a guilty look.  Chuck continued.

“Also, it is why I sent those two,” He said, gesturing to Ramiel and Raguel, “to get Cas.”

“What did they do to him?”  Dean asked this question once again, hoping to now get an answer.

“They performed a spell to give him back his true original grace.  I took it from him a long time ago.  To protect him.”  Chuck looked sad as He said it; it was obvious that He hadn’t wanted to undo what He had done, but He had His reasons.  “Since Raphael is gone, and Michael and Lucifer will choose to not fight with me, I needed him.” 

Just as Sam was about to ask about Raphael, and why God couldn’t bring _him_ back as well (not that he wanted him back; Sam was trying to think strategically more than anything), a bright pulse came from where Castiel still was in the pool.  He had woken up, his body stretching as it moved on its own for the first time in weeks.  Slowly, the angel used his wings to lift him out of the water. 

He had six of them.  Six jet black wings filled with starlight, almost as if universes existed within them.  Large and powerful, they carried Cas’ naked body over, and he landed in a spot where he was easily visible to everyone.  Dean wanted to avert his eyes to avoid looking at his best friend’s nakedness, but his wings were too mesmerizing, and Dean couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly happy that Castiel was awake, even if it was in this place.

“Do you remember who you are?”  God spoke softly to the angel, who, after looking upon his Father’s face, knelt down himself, staying on his knees when he answered.

“My name is Cassiel.  I am your seventh archangel, Father.” 


	5. The Seventh Son

_“Cassiel!”_

_He heard his sister call out to him in the middle of battle.  Darkness swirled around him, and whenever it took a shape, he was plunging his spear of light through what would be its heart.  But this Darkness was eternal, their Father had said, and so these battles were more like bids for time until He was able to figure out a way to defeat their enemy.  Cassiel’s armor was still shining brightly, however, glistening and acting as a beacon amongst this blackness._

_Ramiel and Raguel both flew over to him, their wings outstretched as the former shot arrows at the enemies closing in on her brother.  Raguel descended next to him, and soon they were standing back to back, with dark enemies on all sides._

_“Michael and Lucifer are at the forefront with Father,” she informed him, keeping her eyes ahead.  “And Gabriel and Raphael have taken to the East.”  As one of the creatures lurched forward, she impaled it with her holy broadsword before smiting it, causing the monster to disintegrate into particles of light.  If they were not in the middle of this war, it would have probably been considered somewhat beautiful._

_Another two enemies lunged at Cassiel, who ended up getting some help from his sniping older sister above.  While her arrow met with one of the creatures’ heads, Cassiel swung his weapon to cut straight through the other’s body._

_“Enough of this!” Raguel cried, holding up her palm.  Her brother and sister followed her example, and the three of them together created a blinding light that obliterated the immediate threat._

_“Raguel, Cassiel.”  Ramiel descended toward them.  “We’re too close to heaven.”  She was right, of course.  Chaos had been able to push them back so they were close to the gates of their home.  If the Darkness found its way inside, there was no way heaven would withstand all of it.  “We need to draw it away.”_

_“How are we supposed to do that?  It’s everywhere!”  Raguel exclaimed, not meaning to sound as annoyed as she did.  In reality, she was just frightened, and beginning to lose hope that they could win this war._

_“This thing seems to follow the brightest light,” Cassiel responded.  Suddenly, Ramiel looked very worried.  “I’ll draw it towards me and away from the gates.”_

_“No, brother.  It’s too risky!”  Ramiel immediately objected to Cassiel’s self-sacrificing plan.  He and Lucifer were the brightest of the seven of them, except Lucifer was physically much stronger than Cassiel._

_“There’s no other way!  You two stay here and conceal the gates and guard it just in case something happens to me before I can get far enough away.  Someone needs to make sure home is defended.”  Before either had a chance to react, he spread his large black wings and took off toward the West.  As predicted, the Darkness followed that bright light, and when they found it safe to do so, the two sisters performed the concealment spell which would hide heaven’s entrance to Chaos, at least for the time being._

_Cassiel flew fast and flew far, his powerful wings carrying him as he aimed to put as much distance between himself and heaven as possible.  He could feel the Darkness’ presence behind him, following close and gaining ground.  In response, he beckoned his wings to go faster, trying to stay ahead of his enemies._

_“Why, where do you think you’re flying off to, young one?”  Cassiel stopped short, his breath catching in his throat.  In front of him were not the dark creatures he had been facing.  No, Chaos herself had appeared before him.  She had been smiling at him, almost as if he was but a fledgling.  The look made him more than a little uncomfortable._

_“Abomination,” he growled, his voice masking the fear he felt.  She feigned a hurt look._

_“Tsk tsk, now that’s not very nice, especially since you’re the unnatural one here.”  Suddenly, as he tried to change direction and fly off again, he found he couldn’t move his limbs.  Chaos had them bound, wrapped in what appeared to be black chains formed from the smoky darkness that followed her.  She pulled him closer to her, that smile never leaving her face._

_“Now, child…I think it is time you return to me,” she spoke softly.  Black smoke forced its way into Cassiel’s mouth, and he found himself suffocating.  He could feel his life draining away as the Darkness overwhelmed the light inside his being._

_As long as heaven was safe…_

_“Cassiel!”  Suddenly, an large arrow pierced Chaos’ form, and the black smoke drew back from the archangel.  The goddess looked over to who attacked her, and her warmer smile turned into a wicked grin._

_“Morningstar.”_

_Lucifer said nothing as he dove towards the pair, his light bow disappearing so he could pull out his dual blades.  Chaos herself crafted a long sword from her darkness, and the two clashed.  She completely released Cassiel, who felt too weak to help his older brother or even fly away.  He softly called out to Lucifer, who was too engrossed in his fight to hear him._

_“Lucifer,” Chaos taunted, “everyone believes you to be the brightest, but I see the darkness inside you.  The desire to be truly free.”  The archangel said nothing in response, only grunting as he slashed in her direction.  When their weapons clashed, a piercing noise erupted, and shockwaves pulsated from the pair._

_“You will fall, Lucifer.  It is inevitable.”_

_Just as the Darkness was about to bind Lucifer, a blinding light came towards them, causing Chaos to grit her teeth.  “Yahweh…”  She quickly made her escape, disappearing as the light enveloped Lucifer and Cassiel in a warm embrace.  Cassiel still felt weak, and his Father’s light was making him slip into unconsciousness.  Lucifer flew over to his younger brother, wrapping his arms around him and calling out his name.  But Cassiel couldn’t hear him.  All he heard was the echo of Chaos’ taunt in his head._

You will fall.

\------

_“Don’t step on that fish, Cassiel.  Big plans for that fish.”_

_Earth was an absolutely beautiful place.  This was the first time Cassiel had been able to visit the planet with his oldest brother, and he was in awe.  Their Father’s creation was glorious in every way imaginable – from the crystal clear blue waters to the green fauna growing all around them.  But what Cassiel found he loved the most were the animals.  All of them, each more different than the last.  Some were majestic and graceful, while others were more clumsy and endearing.  Some were large, very large, whereas others were small.  Michael had informed him not to touch any of them.  They were simply observers._

_But something was particularly special about that little grey fish.  Cassiel watched it as it made its way out of the water and onto the beach.  He was mesmerized.  Even with all this beauty surrounding him, that little grey fish was the most glorious creature Cassiel had ever laid eyes on._

_Michael had wandered off, leaving Cassiel standing on the beach alone with that special animal.  Cassiel watched it crawl around in the sand, testing out its newfound ability.  He followed it, entranced.  The way it struggled and yet persisted was astonishing to him; the little thing just wouldn’t give up, even as it was clearly getting tired._

_After some time, it got to a point where the creature was exhausted, and collapsed on the beach.  Cassiel was afraid that if it didn’t get back to the water, it would die.  He looked around to see if Michael had returned, and then, knowing that he was disobeying his eldest brother, picked up the fish and gently placed it back in the water.  As if the fish was able to understand what just happened, it looked up at Cassiel with its big round eyes, almost as if to thank him._

_“Cassiel!  What are you doing?”  The archangel spun around when he heard his brother._

_“I…it was going to die, I thought.”_

_“Cassiel, we are_ observers _only.  Unless Father says so, we do not get involved.  If something dies, then it was Father’s will that it die!”  Michael scolded Cassiel, who bowed his head as if he was ashamed._

_“Yes, Michael,” Cassiel responded._

_However, in his heart, Cassiel wasn’t upset he disobeyed in that instant._

_He was going to love and look after that little fish.  Forever._

\-----

_“Lucifer what have you done?!”  Gabriel’s voice sounded frantic._

_“These things are flawed, brother.  Why do they deserve our love more than Father?  Why should I love this thing more than I love_ you _, Gabriel?”  Lucifer shouted, angrily.  “No, I will not love and bow down to these abortions!”_

_In front of them stood what was once the first human woman, Lilith.  Only now she was not human.  She was twisted and dark and evil.  Her eyes were completely white, and her smile was wicked.  Lucifer had tortured her after being cast from heaven for his disobedience, twisting her once bright and beautiful soul into something hideous._

_“See, I was right!  If these humans were worthy of our love, she would have withstood anything.  But she didn’t.  Why should I have to bow and love such an imperfect creature?”  Cassiel and Gabriel didn’t respond for a moment.  Cassiel just stared at Lilith, and he could feel tears forming in his eyes.  How could Lucifer not see that the reason these humans were perfect was_ because _of their imperfections?  How could Lucifer not see how hard they worked and how persistent they were, despite any setbacks that came their way?  How could Lucifer not see the beauty in their souls and bodies the way Cassiel could, and loved so very much?_

_Uncharacteristically, Cassiel’s sorrow gave way to anger, and he sprung towards his older brother in a rage.  “You monster!”  He shouted, pulling his blade out.  Normally, he would have gawked at the idea of him trying to kill Lucifer, but in this moment he was so overcome with grief for the human that it overpowered his love for the other archangel._

_Unfortunately for Cassiel, Lucifer was leagues more powerful, and had his own angel blade out to parry his younger brother’s.  He looked hurt for a moment.  “See?”  He said, quietly.  “They have us turning against each other.  How can you love these things so, Cassiel?”  They clashed, and Gabriel flew over them in an attempt to stop them.  But before he could do much, Lucifer had knocked Cassiel’s weapon away, and then stabbed his youngest sibling.  Cassiel screamed in agony, feeling his grace pouring from the wound.  Lucifer stopped his assault, then, only looking down at Cassiel with a hurt expression._

_“I’m sorry, little brother.”_

_Gabriel had landed by Cassiel, kneeling down and shielding him with his great golden wings.  Resting in his brother’s arms, Cassiel watched as Michael suddenly appeared with Raphael.  Although Michael and Lucifer then started shouting at each other, Cassiel couldn’t hear them._

_“Hang on little bro.  I got you,” Gabriel softly said, before lifting Cassiel into his arms.  Rather than stay and watch, Gabriel took off, leaving their three eldest brothers alone._

_It was the last time Cassiel saw Lucifer._

_\-----_

_Cassiel watched as Michael spoke to their Father.  All the archangels were gathered in this little corner of heaven.  All except, that is, Lucifer and Gabriel.  Lucifer had been cast into the cage in the pit of hell for what he had done to Lilith, and Gabriel had disappeared soon after.  Ramiel and Raguel stood next to Raphael, away from Cassiel._

_The youngest archangel couldn’t help but feel like he was in trouble._

_It was the first time in a while he had returned to heaven, truthfully.  Although Cassiel hadn’t been cast out like Lucifer.  No, he just found Earth to be a much more pleasant place, and he couldn’t help but enjoy humanity even more than his angelic brothers and sisters.  There was something about them that Cassiel loved and adored, and he wanted to just watch them as much as possible._

_They stood there for some time, before Michael bowed his head to his Father and went over to join Raphael and the others.  That made Cassiel doubly nervous.  He too bowed his head as his lord Father approached him._

_“Father, whatever I have done, I am deeply sorry,” he said, lying.  He couldn’t be sorry for something he didn’t know he did, and if it had anything to do with his constant watching over humanity, then he definitely was not apologetic._

_“Now, Cassiel, lying is a sin.  I see you’re picking up traits from the humans you so love so.”  When God responded, He sounded amused rather than angry.  Cassiel couldn’t help but smile, at least until his Father continued.  “I worry for you.”_

_Cassiel looked up, his big blue eyes shining in his Father’s light._

_“You will love these humans more than anything.  More than your brothers and sisters.  More than yourself.  More than me.  And yet you are forbidden from being with them, which will cause you much pain and suffering.  You will fall_ in _love with one of the righteous humans, and then you will take your own life due to your sorrow over being unable to be with them.”_

_Cassiel’s head tilted in confusion.  Why was his Father telling him all of this?  Why would He relay his future to him like this?  “Father, what are you-”_

_But he was cut off when he felt something tugging at his grace.  His mouth opened and his grace poured out, his Father guiding it into a large vial._ Why?  _Didn’t their Father say to love humanity?  To love them more than anything?  Cassiel didn’t understand what was happening and why._

_“From this moment on, the archangel Cassiel never existed,” God said, sorrowfully.  “You are now the angel Castiel, a good soldier of heaven.”  He said an incantation to create new grace,   it felt odd.  Different.  But it still felt like it belonged to him, in an odd way._

_“Goodbye, my seventh.”_

_With that, God touched the angel’s forehead, and everything went white._

\-----

Cassiel remembered everything.  From the war with Chaos to Lucifer’s fall to his memories and grace being taken away.

“I need you to help us fight Chaos once again.”  God said, while Sam and Dean looked on.  The Father snapped his fingers and a bright light enveloped Cas.  It encircled him and when the light faded, the angel was dressed in silver armor, holding a glowing spear.  He stretched out his six wings.  Sam and Dean stared, mouths agape at their friend’s new look.  Although Dean often described his best friend as a dorky little guy, he wouldn’t be able to use those words to describe Cas in this instant.  No, the angel looked more like a traditional archangel – a true solider of heaven.

The thought unnerved Dean. 

Was this Cas still his Castiel anymore? 


	6. November Rain

After Castiel’s transformation into his past archangel self, God informed Sam and Dean that there was little that they themselves could do to combat this darkness.  They were human, and Chaos affected humans in a way that angels were impervious to. 

“She brings out the darkness in people’s hearts,” He explained to them.  That was why the crime rates back on Earth had skyrocketed.  “In a way, Chaos removes the sense of right and wrong that people have, causing them to revert to purely self-serving and self-interested instincts.”  God explained that before Him, morality did not exist.  “She is, as she says, a state of pure freedom.”  That was also why she had such a strong effect on monsters and demons.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, and couldn’t help but wonder how something that is usually so positive could cause such a negative reaction.

“Dean, remember when you were a demon?”  Chuck asked, after reading their minds.  Dean replied in the affirmative, though shamefully; his demonic days were not ones that he looked back on fondly.  “You had a sense of freedom.  Of being unchained by the true concept of good and bad, able to do what you wanted while feeling no consequences.  _That_ is the type of freedom that Chaos gives; she destroys the concept of morality, allowing people to do whatever they want whenever they want.  To her, killing innocent people is not _bad_ , it is a necessity.  She is all about survival of the fittest.”

“That’s why kids have been going missing so much,” Sam responded, in a low voice.  It hit them that these missing children were most likely dead somewhere and it made the brothers hate Chaos even more than they already did. 

“What can we do?”  Dean asked.  God thought for a moment before closing the distance between Himself and the brothers.  He touched each of their foreheads, and they both felt warmth enveloping their bodies.

“You should be impervious to Chaos’ effects now,” He explained.  “Unfortunately there is not much you two can do on the larger scale.  Despite all you’ve done in the past, this Darkness is much bigger than anything you’ve handled.”  Just as Dean and Sam were about to object, He clarified: “That doesn’t mean you can do _nothing_.  I need you two to help people, like you do.  Monsters and demons are stronger and deadlier under Chaos, and will also be preying on innocents more than usual.  You may not be able to help us in the grand scheme, but you can help those unable to help themselves.”

Of course, those innocents would not be in trouble as much in the first place if Sam and Dean had done the right thing back at that restaurant with Death.  There was a disappointed atmosphere surrounding Chuck; He really had hoped that the two brothers would not be so selfish, but he was surprisingly incorrect.

“Father, don’t you think I should stay with them?  They might need help,” Cas spoke up, and Dean felt a little relieved.  Castiel (Dean would not refer to his friend as Cassiel) looked worried, meaning that he still remembered everything that had happened between them.  He still remembered pulling Dean from Hell and all that came after that important moment.

“No, Cassiel.  I need you to help with something else.”

“What’ll you guys be doing?”  Sam inquired, curious.

“We need to get the other angels back in fighting shape.  They need their wings back.  You guys,” He gestured toward the archangels, “will need to obtain the items needed for the spell.”  Sam and Dean were surprised that He couldn’t just fix the angels instantly.  Maybe with the Darkness released His omnipotence had taken a hit.      

Cas did not look too thrilled with the idea of leaving his friends to battle the monsters of the Darkness all by themselves, but he did not speak up against his Father’s plan.  Sam and Dean had faced much evil in their lifetimes, and so Cas had faith that they would be okay in the end.  Plus, his memories as Cassiel were pulling him back, telling him that they needed to save _all_ of humanity – he remembered that little grey fish – and that required he follow what his Father had to say. 

Cassiel’s idea of the bigger picture was battling with Castiel’s specific love for the Winchesters.

The angel felt like he was two different beings, each battling against each other for some semblance of control.  But they were both _him_ , one was just an ancient version of him, a powerful holy warrior with a love for the creatures his Father created, whereas the other was an angel fallen due to his love for one specific human: Dean Winchester.

He wondered which one would prove more powerful.

“Now,” God had interrupted his train of thought.  “You two must head back to Earth.”  He looked at Cas and Gabriel, who both nodded before walking over to the Winchesters.  Gabriel took Sam’s arm, flashing him a devilish grin, before disappearing.  Cas walked over to Dean and – rather than taking a hold of him – held out his hand.  Dean felt his face become warm – _dammit Cas why’d you have to make this weird_ – before reaching out to take his friend’s hand. 

He suddenly felt whiplash.

\-----

They landed back in the motel room where Ramiel and Raguel had grabbed them hours ago, and Dean felt his stomach churn.  Sam was apparently in the bathroom throwing up, with Gabriel mocking him (“oh come on it wasn’t _that_ bad you big baby”).  (Gabriel was being unfair, of course; he _had_ deliberately gone faster than usual just to tease and mess with the human.)  Dean sat on the nearest bed, trying to get over the dizziness from the flight, before looking back up at Cas.

The angel – no, _arch_ angel – was no longer in his armor, and Dean could sadly no longer see his wings (must’ve been something he could only observe while in Heaven).  But the angel was not dressed in his signature tan overcoat.  No, instead, Cas was now sporting a knee-length black trench coat, and instead of his blue and white tie and white button-down shirt, he was in a navy shirt with a black tie.  It was a different look for him, but one which Dean couldn’t help but admire.  He shifted and cleared his throat.

“Nice change.”  Cas smiled down at his new attire before looking back up at Dean.  

“I think so too.  It seems more appropriate given who we’re fighting.”  Cas then sat down on the bed across from Dean.  “Dean, listen…I don’t want you to think I’m a completely new person since my Father gave me back my memories and original grace,” he said, solemnly.  He was afraid that Dean was going to think less of him now, despite him being more powerful than ever.  “I’m still just…Castiel.”

Despite Dean being worried, the angel’s use of his second name did make him feel better.  It meant that Cas still identified as Castiel more than Cassiel.  Yeah, sure, Cas was now super powerful and had more responsibilities, probably, but…he still remembered Dean and Sam and their time together.

He still loved Sam.  And he still loved _Dean_.

_‘Dean…please…’_

Suddenly, the echo of Castiel’s voice in his head snapped Dean out of his happier trance, and memories of what he had done all flooded back to him. 

“Listen, Cas…about what happened…you know, back at the bunker.  I didn’t…I mean,” Dean sighed; he was blowing this.  “You know that was all the mark, right?”  Though in truth, Dean wasn’t sure if it _was_ all the mark, and that idea frightened him. 

“Yes, Dean, I know,” Cas replied, smiling a little.  Although it was meant to be comforting, it still made Dean uneasy.  How could Cas forgive him just like that?  Why couldn’t he just get _mad_ at him once in a while, when he deserved it?

However, just as Dean was about to say something else, Gabriel emerged from the bathroom in front of Sam.  “Welp, we ought to get going now, right bro?”  Castiel looked at Gabriel and then back at Dean with an apologetic look in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Dean,” he said.  He didn’t want to leave, and he had a feeling _Dean_ didn’t want him to leave.  But his Father needed his assistance for the time being, and once Cas was done with that, he could return to his hunter. 

Dean and Sam just watched as the two angelic brothers disappeared.

\-----

Luckily they were still in South Dakota when Jody Mills called them a few days later.  She sounded worried on the phone – not frantic, Jody was never frantic no matter how much bad shit went down – but explained that a ton of people had been going missing and the ones they found had the characteristics of classic victims of the supernatural.  “I think I’m gonna need your help,” she said, after explaining that it was on a whole other level than usual.

Well, this is what God had told them to do, right?  Save people, hunt things, the family business?  Though now it felt less like they were saving people and more like they were just cleaning up messes.

To be fair though, this was a mess _they themselves_ created…

Dean often wondered if he would make the same decision to not kill Sam if he could go back in time and redo that iconic moment.  While part of him liked to believe that he would make the “right” choice and send Sam to heaven, he couldn’t help but think that the same outcome would occur.  It wasn’t necessarily something Dean was proud of, but personally killing Sam was something he did not think he would ever be able to do, even if the world burned around them as a result.  It was selfish, yes.  Perhaps even evil.

Sam spent the relatively short drive to Sioux Falls looking up some of the cases that Jody had told him about in their quick conversation on the phone.  All the bodies looked like they had either been sucked dry or ripped apart – this looked like a conglomeration of different types of ruthless monsters. 

Neither one of them had expected to see Donna Hanscum answer the door when they knocked, but the cheerful sheriff greeted both brothers with a big smile and hugs.  Her cheeriness baffled them somewhat; during this eternal night, with powered-up monsters coming out from everywhere, how could _anyone_ be that jovial?  But perhaps that was part of Donna’s charm; she was able to remain optimistic even when everything fell apart around everyone.  Perhaps that is also part of the reason she and Jody made such a good team (in that odd buddy-cop sort of way).

“Sam!  Dean!”  They heard Jody’s voice from inside the house, and Donna let them in so they could hug her and say hello. 

“Where’s Alex and Claire?”  Sam asked, looking around for the two teenagers. 

“Upstairs.  _Supposedly_ doing homework, but I doubt that.”  The pair had taken a liking to each other.  Not at first, of course, but Claire’s shell had been especially difficult to crack.  Not that that was surprising, given her history and what she had lost.  Jody called up to them, and it wasn’t long before they heard footsteps rushing down the stairs.

“Yeah?  Oh.”  Claire didn’t look too excited to see them (who could blame her, with what tends to follow them…and her tendency to try to act cool).  She looked behind the brothers.  “Where’s Castiel?”

“He’s on some mission from God.”  Despite it being the truth, Dean said it somewhat sarcastically.  Claire just gave him an angry look; she recalled telling him to keep an eye on Cas, and his being absent right now gave her a bad feeling.

Alex also said her greetings, before five of them went to sit at the dining room table; Donna had gone to the kitchen to get some drinks for everyone.  While Jody originally did not want to involve Claire and Alex, they both had already encountered and disposed of a low-level vampire, and so telling them to stay out of it was out of the question.  

“First, what’s up with this weird eclipse?” Donna said once she walked in, carrying a tray with six glasses.  She set the tray on the table before taking a seat next to Jody, still smiling despite being obviously worried about what was going on.

“It isn’t an eclipse.”

“Well no shit,” Claire responded to Sam’s clarification and rolled her eyes.  Donna gave Claire a look as if to scold her for her language, but Claire just rolled her eyes once again. 

Sam ignored Claire’s reply, and began to explain to them what they had learned over the past few weeks.

\-----

Unfortunately, Chaos’ presence in the universe did darken many things to their Father, and so, Cassiel and Raguel were together searching for one ingredient – stardust of a forgotten galaxy – for the spell to restore the angels’ wings.  God had pointed them in a general direction; the location was hidden but magic was protecting the spell’s component so it couldn’t be destroyed.  It was, of course, on a different planet far away from Earth.  Ramiel and Gabriel had been sent for the other ingredient – the element of an extinct planet – elsewhere in the universe, but they all kept their angel radio on in order to stay in contact even across galaxies.

Raguel and Cassiel felt as though they were searching forever, cutting their way through the Darkness with their weapons of light, trying to stay ahead of it as they flew among the stars.  It would have been beautiful if their mission wasn’t so vitally and terrifyingly important; the two archangels had no time to stop and admire where exactly they were.

They finally found the general location their Father had told them of; a small uninhabited planet light years away from Earth.  The two landed on the surface and began their search.

“Father said it was concealed by magic,” Raguel said, looking around the immediate area.  “We should probably feel it when we get close.”

They didn’t have a lot of time.  They knew Chaos’ reach would follow them; they had to be quick.  They flew around the planet, searching for any semblance of magic, finally finding some when they got near a shallow cave.  Raguel and Cassiel landed, and walked into the cave, finding it to be not as dark as they would have imagined.  Must have been due to their Father’s touch. 

The archangels walked as deep into the cave as they could before seeing an Enochian sigil painted on the wall in what appeared to be God’s blood. 

“This must be it,” Raguel observed.  “We need to be quick.  The Darkness is right behind us.”  Cassiel nodded, and together, the two archangels began saying the incantation that would unlock the seal and reveal the ingredient they needed.  Meanwhile, they felt Chaos’ presence getting closer and closer, searching for them across the planet.

\-----

“Wow.  So you guys really fucked up, didn’t you,” Claire said after Sam and Dean finished their story of the Darkness’ release.  Despite her being technically correct, Dean glared at her and Sam just sighed.

“What’s done is done,” he said, not really wanting to get into a conversation about the ethics of the choices they had made.  “What we need to do now is figure out a way to lock Chaos back up, though the angels seem to be on that mostly.”  Claire really didn’t like the idea of Castiel being on such a dangerous mission, but there was little she could do except pray to him telling him to stay safe or she’ll kick his ass when he came back.

“Uh, guys.  We have a problem,” Donna said, after looking out the window.  Her usual cheery smile was nowhere to be found.  Dean sprung up from his seat, looking out into the front yard.

“Shit.  Sam!”  He called over his younger brother, who got up and also looked out.  There were monsters approaching the house; all different kinds, and _swarms_ of them.  The Winchesters each pulled out their guns, and backed away from the window. 

“Everyone, to the back door, now.”  Sam ordered.  The others stood up, but before following Sam’s directions, they went to get their own weapons; Claire retrieved the Grigori sword she kept, whereas Alex, Jody, and Donna all grabbed guns and machetes.  Together, the six of them made their way to the back of the house, with Sam bringing up the rear and Dean staying in front of everyone. 

“Son of a bitch-” Dean suddenly exclaimed, after looking out into the back and seeing the exact same situation as what awaited them in the front yard.  “They’re all around us!” 

“What do we do?”  Alex asked, suddenly feeling very frightened.  Claire too, was feeling that same fear, but was trying her best to not show it.  Jody and Donna both had the two girls behind them, as if to shield them from any oncoming enemies. 

Suddenly, they heard the crashing sound of a broken window.  Sam turned around and took a shot at the monster, hitting it in the head and causing it to fall over.  Unfortunately, another was right behind it, and more started pouring into the house.  Another window was destroyed, and another. 

“Upstairs, now!”  Jody yelled, hoping that maybe with only one access point in and out would benefit them; the monsters would be easier to pick off.  Of course, there was the fear that they were cutting off their only escape, but at this rate, they had no escape where they currently were, so it couldn’t hurt.  The group rushed up the stairs, with Sam still bringing up the rear, shooting any monsters behind them.

They found their way into Jody’s room, closing and barricading the door.  Donna went and grabbed the carton of salt that her friend kept in her bedroom, placing a line in front of the door and on both windowsills.  Hopefully that would keep them protected for at least a little while.

Dean turned and suddenly saw Claire whispering to herself.  He couldn’t hear what she was saying, but he had a feeling he knew what she was doing; her hands were together – clasped around her sword – and her eyes were closed. 

She was praying.  Praying to Castiel.

Dean heard the commotion downstairs getting closer and closer.  He couldn’t help himself; despite knowing the important task Cas had been sent on, he prayed.

‘Cas, man, please hear us.  We really need you.  We’re surrounded by monsters.   I don’t think we’re going to last, what with this damn Darkness acting as their steroids.’  When nothing happened for a few seconds, he whispered again, praying to his friend.

‘Please Cas.  We need you to help us.’

\-----

“Cassiel, why’d you stop?”  Raguel was puzzled when her brother had ceased chanting the incantation, causing the sigil which had been glowing to dim once again.  At first, Cas did not say anything; he was listening.  He heard Claire’s voice suddenly, asking him for help.  Asking him to come save them.  She sounded frightened but composed; she was not one to appear as scared and frantic as she probably felt, even in prayer.

“Cassiel!”  Raguel shouted, trying to bring his attention back to her.  It worked that time, even though she wasn’t too pleased when he spoke.

“It’s Claire.  She’s in trouble,” he explained, feeling worry wash over him.  Raguel gave him a disapproving look.

“We have more important matters than _one_ human life, brother!  This is about everyone!”  Raguel remembered how much Cassiel cared about humanity, and tried to play on his love for it _as a whole_.  “Remember, we’re trying to save all of them!  One life doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.”

“But she’s my responsibility.”

“Why?  Because she’s your vessel’s kin?  Cassiel, she is not the only child of a vessel who has suffered!  It sucks but it’s what happens!”  Raguel couldn’t believe she was arguing with him about this.

Cas was about to retort, but then he heard another voice praying to him, and the worry he felt grew more intense.  “Dean.”

To that, Raguel looked nervous; she knew how much the older Winchester meant to her brother, and she had a feeling that even _if_ she had been able to convince him to abandon Claire (which she was doubting greatly), she wasn’t so sure she would be able to do the same when it came to Dean.

“Cassiel, please.  _I_ need you here!  Those humans don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things!”

Wrong choice of words, apparently.  Cas looked at her for a moment before making his decision.

“They do to me.  I’m sorry.”

“Cassiel, wait!”  But it was too late; her brother had flown off, abandoning her in the cave.  She cursed and then went back to saying the incantation, knowing that it was going to take more time now since it was just her powering it.  She could feel Chaos closing in.

‘Ramiel, hear me.’  She thought while still saying the words her Father gave them.  ‘If you’ve found the element, please come help me.’  She sent her message over her angelic radio.

Once the message was sent, Darkness circled her.   

\-----

The salt line had broken and the monsters were breaking through the barrier.  With each hole made in the wood, the humans were attacking, but it wasn’t enough.  With the Darkness surrounding the house, monsters seemed almost drawn to it, and it appeared as though no matter how many they killed, enemies just kept coming. 

The group braced for the moment when the creatures finally busted through, but just as the first wave stormed them, a certain angel suddenly appeared. 

“Close your eyes!”  Cas shouted as he held up his palm, bringing forth a blinding light which obliterated the monsters in the immediate area.  He then flew downstairs, leaving the humans temporarily, and repeated the action.  The Darkness swirling around the house seemed to dissipate for the time being; the archangel’s light having overwhelmed it.

Dean led everyone back downstairs, still holding his gun ready just in case he encountered anything other than Castiel.  He was happy when he was only met with the bright blue eyes and dark hair of his best friend.   “Guess you heard us.”  Castiel smiled.

“Yes.  You should be safe now.  But I need to get-”

However, as he was saying that sentence, he disappeared, getting cut off.  Dean’s smile fell; Cas didn’t just fly away.  Someone they hadn’t seen had dragged him out of there.

He was right, of course, because Cas ended up in Heaven, in a chair similar to the one Naomi had strapped him into when she was “fixing” him.  He couldn’t help but panic a little bit, especially when he saw both Gabriel and Ramiel standing on either side of him.  Gabriel looked worried and upset, whereas Ramiel – in uncharacteristic fashion – looked downright furious. 

“You left Raguel!”  Ramiel and Raguel were always incredibly close, so it was no surprise that Ramiel was so angry about the abandonment. 

“My friends were in trouble.  They would have died!”  Cas defended himself, even though the part of him that was aware of the importance of the big picture was less than confident in his decision. 

“Raguel almost _did_!”  She yelled in retort.  Now it was no wonder why the usually calm and demure Ramiel was this upset.  “If it wasn’t for her distress signal, we wouldn’t have gotten to her in time, and not only would she be an agent of the Darkness right now, but Chaos would have the stardust we need!”

So Raguel at least completed their task _and_ defended their prize against their enemy all by herself.  Cas looked away.

“I’m sorry.”  But Ramiel shook her head.

“No, you’re not.  You’ll always choose those humans over everyone else.”  She wasn’t wrong, of course; Cas had proven time and time again that when Dean Winchester was concerned, he would do anything and everything to protect him.

“And that’s why,” Cas heard his Father’s voice, “you need to forget them.”  God looked at his seventh archangel disappointingly; he had hoped that restoring his original grace and memories would put Cas completely back into the field, but as long as Cassiel retained the memoirs of Castiel’s time with Dean and Sam Winchester, he would never truly be able to commit himself to fighting Chaos.

At God’s declaration, Cas began to panic.  “No, you...you can’t!”  Castiel didn’t want his mind to be manipulated with _again_ ; he didn’t want to betray and abandon his friends.  He didn’t want to forget them, to forget Claire and his promise to watch over her.  He didn’t want to forget Sam and the friendship they shared.

And he didn’t want to forget Dean, and how much he loved him.

But that love was the reason why God knew it had to be done.  That love would keep Cassiel bound to the Winchesters.

“When this is all over, Cassiel, I promise to restore these to you.  I’m sorry that I must do this.”

“No, Father…please!”

But when God put his palm to the angel’s forehead, the image of the righteous man whom he pulled from Hell faded into nothingness.        


	7. Kashmir

Hannah had been spending her time in Heaven trying to get everything back in order.  After Michael and Lucifer fell, the civil war between Castiel and Raphael, and the fall of the angels courtesy of Metatron, things had been more than a little chaotic.  But after she left her vessel on Earth and allowed Caroline to return to her family, Hannah had figured out some equation which made Heaven run smoother than it had in a very long time.

At least, that’s what people said.

She hadn’t been too thrilled when Sam Winchester and Castiel used their friend Bobby Singer to bust Metatron out of his prison cell, and now he was roaming around somewhere on Earth.  She had angels out searching for him; but unfortunately without their wings, it was incredibly difficult to try and find him.

Plus, there was now the problem of this Darkness, which obscured her ability to see practically anything on Earth.  She didn’t know what it was, but judging by its power and reach, there was no way that it wasn’t something terribly ominous.

She had gone into the intelligence archives (which would have been easier to navigate if Naomi was still alive, admittedly), but wasn’t able to find anything about this creature, and no one in heaven seemed to be aware of what it was.  If anyone had known anything, it would have been their Father and their oldest brothers and sisters – the archangels – all of whom were either imprisoned or dead.  

Or, perhaps, Metatron.

If any angel alive knew about what was happening, it would be him, and thus, Hannah set out additional search parties in hopes of finding him, but unfortunately was still coming up with nothing.  She was getting frustrated; if they didn’t recapture him soon, who knew what he was going to do?  The scribe of God had a lot of knowledge (unfortunately), and a personal and petty vendetta against Heaven.  Hannah really didn’t feel all that comfortable with him on the ground.

Even turning on angel radio didn’t help all that much.  Just more of the same: nothing.   

The only thing that she felt like she could do would be to turn to the last people she wanted to go to for help: the Winchesters.  Specifically, Dean Winchester, since – despite their history – Castiel had trusted and loved him and Dean hadn’t been the one to break into Heaven.  

Unfortunately, she still did not want to take possession of any person on Earth.  While Caroline was back with her family, Hannah did not want to rob another human being of their happiness, no matter what was going on.  So, she decided on a different angle.

It had been a long time since she went into anyone’s dreams.

\-----

After what had happened at Jody’s place, Dean finally caved in and decided that returning to the bunker back in Kansas would be the safest thing to do.  Despite her initial resistance against the idea of going with them, Jody eventually caved to Sam’s convincing, and packed up her car with some essentials for her, Alex, and Claire.  Donna too, decided that it would be best to stay by people who knew about this whole supernatural business, which she was still so new to.

When they got back, no one had seemed to touch the bunker since the Stynes broke in, which was a bit of a relief.  It meant that no monsters had found it, and perhaps they could ward the place again in order to make it even more difficult to penetrate. 

After sweeping through the place just to be sure, Sam and Dean showed the girls to their temporary rooms; there was plenty of space in the bunker for all of them to have their own, but Alex and Claire ended up wanting to stay together, claiming that they felt more comfortable that way (perhaps safer, given their shared experiences now, though neither would admit that to anyone but themselves).

Dean didn’t want to look at the place where he had beat Cas a few weeks ago; even though Cas claimed that he was forgiven, Dean still could not forgive himself.  He could still see Castiel’s bloody face, hear Castiel’s weak plea, and feel Castiel’s bones being crushed under the weight of his fists.  Although Cas had apparently cleaned himself and the bunker up before Sam returned, the visuals were all still in Dean’s mind.

And so, he spent his evening in the bunker’s kitchen, cooking a delicious meal for his brother and their guests.

“You aren’t hungry?” Jody had asked when she noticed Dean heading back towards his room.  He shook his head, claiming he was more tired than hungry and would eat when he woke up.  In reality, he wasn’t hungry at all; his stomach was in knots from all the memories of Castiel and the worry over where his friend could possibly be.

He quietly shut his door behind him and looked around his bedroom.  It hadn’t been touched since they left, and he noticed the small wooden cross he kept on the mantelpiece above the head of his bedframe.  Dean walked over and picked it up, holding it in his hands while sitting down on the edge of his bed.  He began to pray.

“Hey Cas.  Uh…not sure what happened, but if you could let me know what’s up, I’d really appreciate it.”  His eyes went from the cross to around the room, hoping that Cas would have heard him and instantly appear, but was disappointed when nothing happened.  “Listen, I know that you have things to do and stuff but…”  He trailed off, not really knowing what to say after that.  Cas was an archangel now.  Yeah, he came to their rescue once but that was probably because they were in immediate danger.  Plus, it seemed like he might have gotten in trouble for that, given how abruptly he had vanished.  “Just…just be alright, okay?”

Even by Dean’s standards, it was a pathetic way to end a prayer, but he wasn’t sure how else to word exactly how worried he was without pouring his heart out (which he was not about to do). 

But then he decided to send something out to the rest of those winged dicks.

“Hey, you better make sure nothing bad happens to Cas, alright?  Or I’ll kick all of your asses.”

He knew that most of the other angels would not exactly be too pleased with the wording of his prayer, but he didn’t care about their feelings.  He just wanted Castiel to be okay.  He wanted Castiel to come back to him.

But he went to sleep with no answer.

\-----

“Dean Winchester.”

Dean’s eyes flew open when he heard his name, and he sat up to see the angel Hannah standing in front of his still closed bedroom door.  She appeared to be in the vessel he last saw her (having chosen to appear that way so Dean would know who she was).  Didn’t she go back to heaven?

“This is a dream.  I heard your prayer.  What happened to Castiel?”  She looked worried; did Metatron do something to him?

“Wouldn’t you know?  Aren’t you the one who helped him get back his grace?”  He ignored the voice in his head asking him how she could possibly know, since the whole archangel thing seemed like a big secret. 

Hannah tilted her head, obviously confused.  “What are you talking about?”

“Cas said that you were the one who found the rest of his grace,” Dean responded, almost bitterly.  He neglected to mention Cas’ _new_ (or old? It was still a little weird to think about, honestly) grace, but he wasn’t a huge fan of Hannah, and so wasn’t sure he trusted her with any big pieces of information.  Sure, Cas liked her – a fact which Dean still somewhat disliked – but he wouldn’t get over the fact that she had told Cas to kill him and then abandoned him when he refused.

(Plus, there was that weird bond the two seemed to have and Dean would _never ever_ admit that he was a little jealous of that.)

“…I didn’t think Castiel would be one to lie.”  She said, as if to herself more than as a reply to the human.

“Wait, what?  You’re saying Cas _lied_ to me?  Why?”  Hannah had no reason to lie to him now, so he couldn’t help but believe her, even if it was the last thing he wanted to do.

“I don’t know.  The last I saw Castiel was right before he and your brother used Bobby Singer to break Metatron out of Heaven, presumably to ask him about curing you of the mark.”   

Well, that was news.  Dean stared at her.  “What are _you_ talking about?”

She quickly relayed the events of what had happened, mentioning that because of Sam, Castiel’s, and Bobby’s actions, Metatron was back on Earth and nowhere to be found.  At Dean’s prying, she did also say that Bobby was serving his sentence in heaven for his crime, which angered Dean but he had no moral grounds to throw against her.  She didn’t have the same sentimental fondness for the Winchesters and Bobby as Cas did, so he knew he wouldn’t be able to play on that either.

Dean knew that Cas – after the events of a few years ago with him working with Crowley – would not want to intentionally lie to him.  And Bobby would have insisted that they reveal this plan to Dean, knowing full well how the whole secret-keeping tends to end up.  Which left only one person responsible: Sam.  Sam must have told Cas to lie so that Dean wouldn’t find out the stupid shit they pulled in order to cure him even _after_ he said he didn’t want them to look for a cure anymore.

“So wait.  What do you want then?” Hannah’s visit now made even less sense to him.

“I was going to ask if you knew where to find Metatron.  He might have some answers about this…Darkness.  There are no records about it in Heaven, and it is obscuring our view of Earth.” 

Wow, God really did keep his secrets.

“ _None_ of you know?”  Hannah shook her head, and Dean sighed.  “You might want to take up a chair or something.”  Despite not really being her biggest fan, Chaos was _everyone’s_ enemy, and it didn’t seem right or sensible for the rest of the angels to know absolutely nothing about her.  Plus, she just told him the truth about what had happened with respect to Cas’ grace, so… _quid pro quo_ , he guessed.

\-----

By the time Dean finished telling Hannah everything he knew about Chaos, the angel was speechless.

“How…how could Heaven not know about any of this already?”  Why this was such a well-guarded secret among her Father and His archangels, she didn’t know.  Even the fact that Ramiel and Raguel and Gabriel were _alive_ was unknown.  And Castiel was actually an archangel?  And God Himself was _now involved?_   It was all so much for her to wrap her head around; so many previous truths and beliefs suddenly false.  She didn’t know if she should believe the human, but she knew of little reason why she shouldn’t.  Plus…he was the only one with any sort of information on this Darkness, so she felt like she had little choice but to take his words as truth.

“Yeah, I would’ve thought this would’ve been like…the first thing you guys learn in angel Sunday school or something,” Dean responded.

“Now it is even more important that we find Metatron.”  When Dean gave her a quizzical look, she explained: “He is the reason the angels fell.  He will not ally with our Father if he has a choice.  Especially since four of our seven archangels have already pledged to fighting this…Chaos.”  Again, Metatron had a petty vendetta against the archangels, and so anything they committed themselves to meant that Metatron would probably do the opposite.  Just because.  

And there were two more archangels in Hell, but neither one of them was going to give voice to the obviously inane idea of those two being released to help out.  And why God couldn’t just resurrect Raphael was beyond both of them.  (Then again, there would be the problem of whether or not Raphael would even want to help out too…he did seem on board with the whole apocalypse thing, so perhaps this would be just a bigger scale of that.  Same went for Lucifer and Michael.)

“I’ll bring this information back to Heaven.  Thank you.”  Dean was surprised when Hannah thanked her; although she wasn’t his biggest fan, having been the reason Castiel fell and the reason Castiel broke into heaven and the reason Castiel did a lot of the (stupider) things he did, she couldn’t help but feel like she owed him at least that sentiment of gratitude. 

However, before Dean could respond, something happened.  Even in this dream, Hannah started glowing.  She didn’t seem to understand what was happening, looking at both of her hands with a wide-eyed expression. 

It happened very suddenly: a beam of light shot down on her, even while in the room, and enveloped her.  She didn’t scream, but looked up, her eyes beginning to glow blue.  Dean saw the shadows of her broken wings unfold, stretching out wide across the wall. 

A starry blue light began to circle both of them.  Slowly, the brittle bones began to heal, and healthy full feathers replaced the damaged and missing ones.  Dean watched as the angel’s wings seemed to repair themselves, going from frail and almost bare appendages, to full glorious things, like the ones that he had seen on the archangels when he was in Heaven.  Of course, Hannah only had two while they had six, but the shadows of her wings were huge and beautiful once they finished, and she lifted them high, breathing deeply.

When the light disappeared, the shadows did too, and she and Dean stared at each other for a moment.

“Guess they got what they needed,” he said, referring to the spell that God had referenced.  She gave him another confused look, and Dean again explained.  Despite the reason _behind_ the urgent need for the spell, she couldn’t help but smile.  She missed the feeling of her wings, as did many of her brothers and sisters.  Plus, she felt…stronger than before.  Improved, even.  Did she just get a promotion?

So at least for tonight, there would be much celebrating in Heaven.

Hannah said her goodbyes to Dean and disappeared, causing the hunter to wake up.  He was back in his bed, and looked around.  The angel was nowhere to be seen, but he remembered what she had told him. 

He got out of bed and walked down to Sam’s room.  The light was still on.  Dean only knocked once as a warning, not waiting for his brother’s invitation.  Sam was sitting at his desk on his computer, and he pivoted his body to look at Dean.

Something was wrong.

“Guess who I just chatted with?”  Sam didn’t like the tone in his brother’s voice.  “A little angel called Hannah.”

Crap indeed.

Sam swallowed, though tried to change the subject that was very obviously about to come up.  “How?  Did the angels get their wings back already?”

“In a dream, but yeah, she just did anyway.  But,” Dean practically growled, leaning against the doorframe.  “She _didn’t_ get Cas his grace back, apparently?  She claims that you and Cas dragged _Bobby_ into breaking Metatron out of jail.  Know anything about that?”

“Listen, Dean,” Sam began to explain.  “You had given up, and we were desperate!”

“Yeah, well, thanks to you, Metadouche is apparently out there somewhere and, according to her, will probably ally with the Darkness.”

Sam hesitated for a moment before deciding to add another piece of information.  “…And he has the demon tablet.”

Dean couldn’t believe his ears.  “What?  You’re joking, right?  No, of course you’re not joking, why would you joke?  What the hell, Sam?”  Dean’s voice had been getting louder and louder, while Sam just looked guiltier and guiltier. 

He probably should have listened to Bobby’s letter. 

“I don’t know how many times we’re gonna dance this dance Sam,” Dean then said, becoming exasperated.  He was referring to the constant cycle of lying to each other in order to save or protect the other.  Those lies, always with good intentions, ended up having terrible consequences.  And Dean was tired of these conversations.  Hell, he was so tired he lost all the anger he just had a few seconds ago.  “If we’re going to fight this thing, we need to stop this.”

He knew that they had said that before, and every time they meant it in the moment, but they just continued through the cycle. 

Sam nodded.  “Alright, sure.  No more lies.”

Dean looked at him, and wondered how much of a lie that was, before turning around to go back to his room.  He needed to sleep without any angels interrupting his dreams.


	8. Hellnation

Chaos knew exactly when the angels’ wings rejuvenated; she could feel the power of God’s spell pulse through the universe.  In truth, it also invigorated her; it would have been a very one-sided battle if Yahweh’s host was not in fighting shape when she finally found and attacked heaven’s doorway.  But the God of light had put very powerful protections on the gates of His home, making it invisible even to her.  She had searched far and wide, but she felt as though she was going in circles, never actually hitting her destination.

At this rate, she felt like she wouldn’t be able to find it.

Which is why she decided to go find a certain former scribe of God, hoping to stay one step ahead of that Hannah angel; with her wings back, the newly-promoted seraph (and apparent commander of heaven) would be much better equipped to find Metatron now.

The former angel had set up shop in an abandoned library, having put up angelic warding and demonic traps all around the building.  He tried putting up some sigils from the demon tablet, and it seemed as though he had a few under his control when Chaos scoped out the area.  It really didn’t matter to her; that rock was nothing in the grand scheme of things, and held no power over her Darkness.

She approached the mostly uninhabited area, walking briskly and without a care even when the demons saw her.  They attacked immediately; perhaps they did not recognize her for who she was, or the scribe had simply ordered them to attack whoever came near.  It did not matter either way, for Chaos had her Darkness entering the meatsuits that the demons wore, corrupting their already blackened essences so they turned on each other.  She walked through the battle, her dress dragging on the ground behind her, blood spattering on it as the demons fell by their own blades.

Why this particular library had been abandoned, Chaos wasn’t sure.  It was a beautiful piece of architecture; if humans ever impressed her – which was a rare thing – it was how they were able to build and sculpt and _create_ , with just their bare hands and bodies.  When they were free to do what they pleased, humans could thrive; they could make beautiful things and be _strong_.  Right now, humanity was filled with too much fat: too many weaknesses, too much unintelligence, too many rules governing their lives.  It pained her; humans had never known the state of pure freedom, of the true _natural state_ of the universe.  Yahweh’s rules – _morality_ , He called it – were ingrained in too many of them, and were ingrained in their societies.  Yes, they may have been His creatures – His flock, so to say – but they were nothing but sheep under His rule.  With her, they could be _lions_.

“Scribe.”  She called out, not seeing the former angel anywhere but feeling his presence.  He was here, somewhere.  Just hiding.  Cowardice.  She did not like cowardice but she also needed information, information he had and might be willing to give.  “I’m sure you know who I am.  I’m not here to harm you.”  Her shadows filled the room, the smoky blackness weaving in between everything, searching for the man.  “Ah, there you are,” she said, when she felt her Darkness reach him.  She pushed his body towards her so she could see his face.  He looked frightened; really, why shouldn’t he be?  He was but a human, facing one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

Still though, she didn’t like it.  The Winchesters hadn’t looked frightened when she met them.  They hadn’t cowered.  They were _strong_. 

Whether they wanted to believe it or not, they would be _kings_ under her Darkness.  They would emerge victorious in the game of survival of the fittest.

“Chaos,” Metatron said, finally greeting her.  She smiled, and walked around him, surveying and judging his vessel.  Not exactly the choice she would have made if their places were switched. 

“I know you are not on good terms with Yahweh and heaven.”  She spoke softly and unthreateningly.  “I am here to ask for some information.”  When the man was about to inquire, looking confused – how could she not know something that he did – she continued: “Yahweh has the gates to heaven blocked to me.  I haven’t been able to find them.  I don’t suppose you would be willing to help me with that.”

After a moment of thought, Metatron realized that he had the upper hand in this bargaining game, and traded his scared look with a smug smirk.  Oh, Chaos wanted to rip the man’s lips right off but she waited.  She was patient, and he was nothing really, in comparison to what she was after. 

“Well, well, well…the mighty Darkness, perhaps not as omnipotent as she likes to think,” he said.  She just watched him, smiling and ignoring his self-satisfied tone.  “Why should I help you?” 

Chaos shrugged, walking over to one of the bookshelves to pick one of them up and flip through it.  “You’re expecting me to say what?  That I’ll kill you if you don’t?”  She looked up only to flash him a grin, though this one was far less friendly than her previous smiles.  “I am freedom; it would be incredibly hypocritical of me if I forced you into my servitude, yes?” 

Metatron’s smirk fell.  “Then how are you planning on recruiting me?”

“Well, I could just play on your own hatred of the archangels, or I could offer something in exchange.”  Chaos could easily give him something for the information, depending on what he wanted.

The former scribe seemed to perk up at that.  “Well…now we’re talking.”

\-----

Sam and Dean were sitting in the bunker’s main room at different tables, each on laptops.  Jody and Donna took the girls out in search of some food, making sure to take their weapons with them.  Meanwhile, the brothers were still scouring everywhere for any sort of information about the Darkness, hoping that they would be able to find _something_ about her prison and how to recreate it (but hopefully without the need for the mark).  Despite God telling them to stay out of this fight, that wasn’t exactly in their nature, especially given how many humans were suffering.    

Things just got worse and worse.  Humans – not just monsters – were becoming more and more murderous.  They were fighting for anything and everything.  Sam saw an explosion of articles about people killing each other over petty squabbles and _things_. 

“Chaos said she was a state of pure freedom, and that she was the natural state of the universe, right?”  Sam suddenly said after at least an hour of silence.  His question prompted Dean to stand up and walk over, looking over his little brother’s shoulder to see his laptop screen.

“Hobbes?  Isn’t that _political_ philosophy?”  Dean recalled learning a bit about Hobbes’ _Leviathan_ , but not in reference to anything supernatural-related.  (The title, of course, had nothing to do with those disgusting monsters from purgatory they faced a few years earlier.)

“Yeah, but listen to this.  Hobbes described the state of nature as being a war of all against all, and an anarchic state of freedom, where everyone has the right to basically do whatever they want in order to survive.  That in this state of nature, there is nothing except war, and that human life becomes ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short’,” Sam finished, quoting the philosopher’s words. 

“What, so you think something like that is happening here?”  Dean asked, incredulously.  “All these men of letters knowing about what’s really out there and we are going to find information from someone who talks _politics_?” 

“I don’t know Dean, but it sounds like that is kind of what’s going on with everyone!  Suddenly everyone is trying to kill everyone else, and obviously those who are weaker aren’t going to last.”

“Hey, looks like you two morons figured out _something_!”

Sam jumped when Gabriel suddenly appeared in front of them.  Dean cursed; they hadn’t warded the place against angels in hopes that Cas would come back (really, if only there was a way to ward against everyone _other_ than one specific person…that’d be great).

“Gabriel.  What’re you-”

“Shut up and listen,” the archangel said, cutting Sam off.  “I don’t have a lot of time before I gotta get back.  I just wanted to give you some info.” 

“About what?”

“Cassiel.”

That got the brothers’ attention, Dean especially.  He had been praying to the angel almost nonstop since he disappeared.

“Yeah, we all know you’ve been praying to him,” Gabriel said, after peaking into the older Winchester’s mind.  Dean frowned; yeah, Gabriel was right but he didn’t need to go looking in places where he wasn’t wanted.

“So Cas wasn’t supposed to come save you guys the other day.  He left Raguel alone with Chaos and she was lucky that Rami and I got to her before she was killed.  But Dad knew that Cassie would always pick you,” he said, pointing specifically to Dean, “over everyone else.”

To that, Dean felt his face heat up in embarrassment, though he said nothing to counter the archangel’s point.  Gabriel continued.

“He felt he had no choice.  He took away Cassie’s memories of you guys.  That’s why he’s not answering you.  He _doesn’t know you anymore_.”

Both Sam and Dean’s eyes became wide, until Dean laughed.  But it was a bitter and angry laugh, almost as if he believed Gabriel was playing a cruel joke on them.  It was, after all, his style to do so.  His trickster ways were had not disappeared.  “No.  No you can’t just take away everything Cas has been through with us.”

“Well... _I_ can’t, no.  But Dad can.  And _did_.”  Gabriel’s serious look pulled Dean back to reality.  He wasn’t joking.

And then, Dean became furious, grabbing Gabriel and pushing him into the nearest wall.  Sam called out his brother’s name, but Dean didn’t seem to hear him.

“You’re telling me that you let your asshole of a Dad mess with Cas’ mind _again_?  What, just because he wasn’t doing what you all said?  Hasn’t the poor guy done enough for you all already?”  Dean was practically shouting, while a whole mess of emotions swirled inside him: anger for what they had done to Cas, fear for what that meant, and concern and sadness over the idea of Cas no longer knowing who he was.

“You watch your tone,” Gabriel said, threateningly.  Dean recalled him getting touchy about his family, but Cas was _Dean’s_ family, so the human felt like his fury was justified right now.  “Remember that this is _your guys’_ fault.  Cas wouldn’t have needed any of this had you two not released Chaos to begin with!” 

To that, Dean grit his teeth and let go of Gabriel.  Technically he was right, and now Dean could add guilt on top of the emotions he was currently experiencing.

“You sons of bitches…how many more times are you going to mess with Castiel, huh?”  Dean specifically used his friend’s full name, the one that he knew him as.  He wanted to make a point to Gabriel: that Cas would always be _Castiel_ to him.  “Take away his memories to ‘protect’ him, then give them back only to take away different ones?  You’re okay with your brother being manipulated like this so he could…what?  Be the perfect little archangel soldier for your dad?”

To that, Gabriel averted his eyes.  Obviously, he was _not_ okay with it, hence one of the reasons he decided to tell the brothers.  “No, but the bigger picture is at stake here.” 

“Yeah, that’s always the line you winged bastards pull out when you know you’re doing some messed up shit.”

Sam was watching this exchange unfold, making sure to keep an eye on Dean in case he did anything stupid.  Gabriel was one of the more powerful beings they’ve ever faced, and even with the archangel’s joking personality, he could be frighteningly serious at times.

“Look, I just wanted to let you know.  So you could stop wondering where he is.  He isn’t going to answer you.” 

And with that, Gabriel disappeared.

Dean stared at the spot where Gabriel was last seen before wordlessly storming off to his bedroom.  Once he got there, he stared at the wall for a moment, before punching it a few times until his knuckled began to split and bleed.

Could Cas really not remember him?

Dean prayed to his friend once again.  

\-----

“No,” Chaos said, flashing an angry look towards Metatron.  “I cannot give you heaven.”

The former angel didn’t look too pleased with her answer.  “Well then I can’t give you the location of heaven’s door,” he replied, snottily. 

“You misunderstand.  Heaven will no longer be the heaven you know once I invade it.  The current heaven will no longer exist.  I am planning on snuffing out every bit of light in this universe, and your previous home is all light.  It cannot exist in my world,” she explained, while walking over to him with long elegant strides.  “Same reason why, if you had asked to be an angel again, I cannot do that either.”  Angels were beings of pure light, and she did not have the ability to give life to them, despite how powerful she was.  “What I can give you, however, is protection.”

Metatron raised one of his eyebrows, curious.  “Go on.”

“You being human means that you will eventually succumb to death.  Under my Darkness, that death will come sooner rather than later; only the strongest survive in my world.  Your intellect is your greatest weapon, but your arrogance overshadows and dulls it,” she said, ignoring the furious expression on Metatron’s face.  “Physically, you are weak.  Frankly, you will not survive very long.  And where, oh where, do you think your human soul is headed?”

Metatron’s eyes widened, and he traded in his angry look for one of fright.  Chaos chuckled.

“That’s right.  No matter whether or not I succeed in the end, your soul will end up in Hell.  A former angel, the one who was once the scribe to God?  I doubt you would do very well down there.  And even with all the information you could possibly give to them…demons are demons, and will flay your soul until there is nothing left of it.”  She paused, giving that mental image a moment to sink in.  “I can help you survive.  Normally I would never dream of doing something like this; that is how much I want the location to heaven’s door.”

When Metatron was silent for a little too long, she added: “Or, of course, you can say no and I’ll be on my way.  After all, I have an eternity to look for what I’m after.  You, on the other hand…”  She eyed him up and down and then turned, headed towards the exit.

“Wait!”  She smirked when the scribe called after her.  


	9. Knocking on Heaven's Door

Ever since Rowena messed around with Hell’s power structure, Crowley had found himself needing to do some damage control to his reputation.  Thanks to Sam Winchester, he felt more like his old demonic self; Rowena’s hex bag had not caused him to die as she and the younger brother had wanted, but did get him to cough up the remainder of the human blood which had been dulling his system.  So, since he escaped death at the hands of a rabid Castiel due to the interference of those two archangels, he had been spending his time cementing his rule over Hell once again.

Hell’s kennelmaster – a longtime supporter – had provided him with two new hounds, whom Crowley was using to squash dissenters and collect debts that he still needed to acquire.  The hounds were vicious and loyal, and the King of Hell took to them rather quickly.  He felt better knowing they were around him; the hounds were more trustworthy than any individual that he had come in contact with in recent times.

Unfortunately, it seemed like the more he oppressed to strengthen his position, the more demons were shouting ‘freedom’ and trying to topple his regime.  That was a very human response; if they were humans it would have made sense, really.  But they were demons; demons did not have the same concept of freedom as they did when they were human.  They followed the strongest.  They followed Lucifer, believing he was their god, or they followed Crowley for his ability to strengthen Hell as a whole and obtain more soul contracts than anyone else, or they followed Abaddon, the Knight whose impressive strength made her a force to be reckoned with.

Demons were _followers_.  They do not cry freedom.

So what was going on? 

Crowley sat on his throne with only his two new hounds accompanying him in the room.  They were young and energetic, wanting to go out and work for their master some more, but said master was wondering what the best next move would be.

The throne room’s doors unexpectedly swung open, and a group of demons ran in, eyes blackened over.  Along with them came a dark smoke, one that Crowley knew was not demonic.  It was that Darkness which had been released thanks to those two morons called Winchester.

But the King did not even get up from his spot, waving his hand so his dogs would do as they pleased.  The hounds jumped at the opportunity, snarling and drooling, their red eyes practically glowing.  They each took on one demon at first, their sharp claws tearing at fragile flesh, and their teeth ripping through skin and muscle and bone.  Dark blood flowed freely on the floor of the room, and the screams of the traitors were music to Crowley’s ears.  His pets continued to impress him; they disposed of the intruders quickly and brutally.

When they finished, they looked back at their master with their tails wagging, as if they were checking to make sure they pleased him.  Crowley stood and slowly walked across the room, giving them each a pat on the head to thank them for their good work.  They both barked once happily, bouncing next to and following after their master.     

Crowley did not know what this Darkness was, but figured that he would not get any information down in Hell.  He needed to head up to Earth.  His first thought was to seek out the Winchesters, but his previous encounter with Sam was less than pleasant and he wasn’t looking to recreate it any time soon.  Despite that he could kill the moose with a snap of his fingers, he wasn’t really in the mood to then deal with a vengeful squirrel and angel hunting him until the end of days.

With his hounds at his side, Crowley decided that he would need to do a little research on his own.

\-----

In the few days after Gabriel’s visit, Sam and Dean took on more cases.  They didn’t know what else to do other than work and research.  Claire had insisted she tag along a few times, but the brothers refused.  However, they promised her that they would teach her some things while they were not out on hunts.  It was an odd thing for them; they didn’t want to teach Claire and Alex (and Jody and Donna) some of the things they knew.  They didn’t want their friends to be hunters.  But the four women were thrust into this life, and better they have the tools they need to survive in this world than be left helpless.

So during down time, Sam would offer his advice on hacking into credit cards and official records, while Dean would go over the different types of supernatural creatures they’ve encountered and how to kill them.  Truthfully, the brothers enjoyed having the four in the bunker; it was a nice change of pace from their usual routine.  Even when Claire played her music way too loud…it was nice, in its own way. 

They tried to focus on this familial feeling.  It could be gone at any moment.

“Do you think Cas is okay?”  Claire one day asked Dean when he was showing her some entries in his father’s journal.  Dean stopped and looked at her.

“I’m sure he’s fine.  He’s an archangel now, remember?”  Claire looked at him, unconvinced; his worried tone gave it away.  He didn’t know how Cas was or where Cas was and he couldn’t stop thinking of what Gabriel said about God erasing Cas’ memories of him.  And the _reason_ why; because Cas would always pick Dean over his family and his obligations.  Despite all the evidence, part of Dean couldn’t believe that that was actually true.

“Sure.  You sound real confident,” the young woman responded, sarcastically.  She also had been praying to Castiel every night, hoping that he could explain what was going on, or just come down so she could see and talk with him (not that she would admit to anyone else that she actually wanted to do that). 

“Shut up.  Let’s just get back to this, alright?”

“Fine.  Whatever.”

A few more hours of studying and training occurred before they all decided to hit the hay.  All, that was, except Sam, who was engrossed in reading through Thomas Hobbes’ _Leviathan_. 

“Samuel.”

Sam jumped when the archangel Ramiel appeared in front of him.  Weren’t those Enochian wards still carved into his ribs to make it so that angels _couldn’t_ find him this easily?

“Gabriel told me where to find you.  He couldn’t come himself but asked that I deliver this warning to you specifically.”  Sam sat up straighter in his chair, listening intently.

“Our Father has said that the door’s location has been compromised, and there will be a battle within a few days’ time.  Since the door is – as you know – in this area, I recommend you leaving.”

“The door to heaven?”  Sam asked, for clarification purposes.  Ramiel nodded.  “And what, Chaos knows where it is?”  Another nod. 

Great.

“So, what, this battle is going to decimate everything in town?”

“Most likely, as sad as it is.  You should take your brother and companions and leave.”

“And what about everyone else?”  Sam asked, wondering about the rest of the population of the surrounding areas.  He didn’t want to imagine a biblical-style battle disintegrating adults and kids alike.

“I’m not even supposed to be warning _you_ , but Gabriel asked-”

“I thought you were supposed to be an angel of compassion!  How could you just let everyone die like that!”  This conversation reminded him of when Cas and Uriel wanted to level an entire town just to stop one of the seals from being broken. 

“If I could do something, I would.  But I _can’t_.  I must prepare.”

And as quickly as she came, she disappeared.

Sam wasted no time, he jumped out of his chair and ran to his brother’s room, banging on the door until a sleepy-eyed Dean answered, yawning. 

“What, Sam?  I was actually sleeping alright for once.”

“There’s gonna be some sort of angel-versus-Chaos battle soon which is apparently going to destroy everything nearby,” he said quickly, all in one breath.

“Wait.  What are you talking about?” 

“That archangel – Ramiel – she just popped in here and basically said that and left!”

“And what, they’re okay with this?”  Before Sam could answer, Dean continued with a bitter and angry laugh.  “Of course they are.  Fucking angels.”

\-----

Sam and Dean spent the night trying to figure out a way to evacuate the town without things getting overly hectic.  Of course, they also had to figure out a way to actually _convince_ everyone to get _out of the area_ , and that was another problem they had yet to find any solution to.

Finally, it got to a point where Sam couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore, and the brothers agreed to talk about it more in a few hours.  Sam went off to bed, but Dean was left awake, unable to fall back asleep.  And when he couldn’t sleep, he completed his routine: he prayed to Castiel.

“Hey Cas.  Uh…I know you’re not answering.  Hell, I doubt you’re even listening at this point but.  We could really use your help.  Apparently there’s going to be this big battle that’s gonna kill a lot of people.  You can’t be okay with that happening, right Cas?  Please…help us find some way to get them out of here or something.  So many people will die unless we hel-”

A flapping of wings and papers scattered from the gust of wind.

Dean couldn’t believe his eyes.

“…Cas?”

Cas stood in front of Dean, in that black outfit he last saw the angel in.  Really, as good as Cas looked in this getup, Dean couldn’t help but miss his friend’s tan trench coat; it felt more like…him.  It was his signature.  Seeing Cas without it like this and knowing what had happened to his mind made Dean slightly uncomfortable; it was like he was transforming into someone different before his eyes.  But still, the human slowly stood, and walked a few steps toward Cas, getting a little too close than he normally would be comfortable with when it came to anyone else.

But Cas was different.  Cas was _always_ different.

“Why do you pray to me so much?”  Instead of getting into the problem of the upcoming battle, Cassiel felt he had to ask this question first.  For some reason, Cassiel couldn’t remember a recent time where this particular human was not praying to him specifically.  Most of the time, people prayed to all angels, or to their Father, so it was unusual that he was getting prayer after prayer after prayer from one man.  (And there was also the girl who was residing here as well, but Cas responded to the man simply because of the most recent message he sent out.)

Dean’s face fell and he couldn’t hide the hurt in his eyes.  So, Gabriel was telling the truth.  Cas really didn’t remember him.

“Cas.  It’s…it’s me.”

But his words were met with a blank stare and a head tilt.  That tilt, which was usually so endearing, now just made Dean’s stomach churn.  Castiel had no idea what he was talking about.

“You pulled me out of hell?  We fought Lucifer together?  We fought Leviathans and went to Purgatory?  You remember _none_ of that?”

“I think I would have remembered any of that,” Cas said, almost flatly.  But there was a little something behind it that Dean couldn’t help but notice.

“You know something is wrong, Cas.”  The angel just looked away, but decided to change the subject.

“I’m here because of your message.  When did you receive this warning about the battle?”

Dean really wanted to continue talking about what had happened to Cas’ memories, but he conceded, tabling that conversation for another time.  What they needed to talk about now was more imminent.  “Just a few hours ago, apparently.  That Ramiel chick came to see Sam.”  He paused, watching as Cas’ eyes narrowed while he was thinking.  “She basically said this battle will destroy everything, most likely.  That true?”

“It’s very likely, yes.  We will be fighting Chaos, and the clashing forces could be destructive to the structures in the area.”  So, essentially, that included all the houses in the area.  Whoever was in them would be crushed without warning.

“Cas, we can’t just let people die.  You gotta help us get them out of here.”

“What would you have me do?”

Amazing, even without remembering him, Cas asked Dean what he wanted from him. 

Cassiel, of course, did not know exactly _why_ he wanted to help this particular human.  He did want to save everyone in the area, yes, because he loved humanity and wanted to protect the descendants of that little gray fish he adored so much.  But he also remembered Michael’s words, telling him not to interfere because if people died, then it was their Father’s will that they do.  Who was he to go against the will of God?  He was supposed to be His servant.  

But the look this man was giving him…it made him want to help.  For some reason, this man’s presence felt…familiar.  Familiar and warm, and Cassiel felt a responsibility to aid him, for some inexplicable reason.        

“Talk to them or something!  _Make_ them leave!”  Dean was sounding desperate.

“Making them leave would go against the concept of free will,” Cas replied, on cue.  It was something that his Father said constantly about ‘making’ people do things, and why they should be careful about toeing the line between freedom and subjugation.

“But it would save their lives, Cas!”  Dean couldn’t believe his own words; he knew he was being hypocritical.  If it were him, he would want the choice on whether or not to leave, but here he was, begging Cas to basically mind control everyone into evacuating for their own safety.  Then again, he tended to care about the lives of others more than his own – his was expendable, while theirs were not.

“I can’t,” Cas said, walking past Dean to the other side of the room towards the human’s desk.  On it, there were pictures of a young boy with a blonde-haired woman – Dean and his mother.  He picked up the picture and looked at it for some time, smiling down.  How many boys and their mothers would die if he did not help?  Perhaps there was a way he could encourage people to leave while still leaving it up to them…

“But what I can do is try to change the weather…” Cas figured that a hurricane or tornado with some warning would get enough people to leave.  Not everyone, of course, there was always stragglers who stubbornly refused to leave their homes despite the impending doom.  Doing this would not get everyone to leave, but hopefully those at least with families would evacuate in hopes of protecting their children and loved ones.  And hopefully those without families would think of their own lives before their properties and would likewise clear the area.    

“I’ll return soon,” Cas left before Dean could respond to the angel’s idea.  He sighed, hoping that whatever Cas had in mind worked.

\-----

“Hey, you hear about this crazy storm that’s coming?”  Jody asked Dean after putting a cup of coffee down on the table in front of him.  After Cas had left, Dean stayed awake for around another hour before passing out, unable to keep his eyes open anymore.  He blinked, still trying to get over his sleepiness, and took a sip of the hot liquid. 

“What storm?”

Jody explained: “Apparently some freak hurricane-tornado combination is headed towards us.  It’s supposed to be devastating.  They’re telling people they should leave the area for more than a few days for their own safety.  Some anonymous donor set up a huge fund for people who normally don’t have the money to leave to help get them out too.”

Dean smiled, and when Jody went back into the kitchen to refill her own mug, he whispered softly to himself.

“Thanks, Cas.”


	10. Fool in the Rain

Ever since their wings returned, the angels in heaven had been celebrating almost nonstop.  They spent their days and nights flying, taking to some of their favorite heavens to stretch their rejuvenated appendages.  It was a sight to see; so many happy angels flying through the air until they physically were too tired to remain suspended.  The souls of the visited heavens enjoyed the visits; the cheerfulness of the angels bled into everything, and the entire place seemed more pleasant than even usual.

Unfortunately, after her initial glee, Hannah became weary about how and _why_ their wings had been restored.  Not to mention her promotion; she definitely felt stronger and faster, with more power than she had ever experienced before, but she knew that there must have been some serious reason behind it.  Dean had told her everything he knew – from God’s being alive, to the spell, to the archangels, to Chaos – and Hannah was perfectly aware that this happiness permeating throughout heaven was going to be short lived, dying once someone called on them to help battle this Darkness.  It made her sad, but she kept the information to herself for the time being; she wanted to give her brothers and sisters just a little more time of bliss before taking that away.

Unfortunately, that time came sooner rather than later, when Ramiel and Raguel – the latter of whom had recovered from her encounter with Chaos in God’s pool – visited her in her favorite heaven – an 8 year old girl’s snow day.  The flakes falling from the sky were big and fluffy-looking, dropping lightly as the young soul ran around and played.  Hannah would sometimes join her – building snowmen and snow angels, mostly; it took a lot of begging on the girl’s part to get Hannah to cave the first time.  Perhaps it was Castiel’s influence which prompted her to engage when the girl’s soul threw that snowball at her, though Hannah could not deny that it made her feel good when the girl would laugh from all the fun she was having.

When Ramiel and Raguel had appeared, Hannah had been carrying the little soul through the air as she flew, listening to and smiling because of the girl’s enthusiastic giggles.  She spotted the two archangels, and landed, telling her host to go play by herself for now.  The young one bounced off, and Ramiel and Raguel approached.  It was the first time Hannah had ever seen them, but she knew who they were judging from their six impressive and large wings. 

“This is a beautiful heaven,” Ramiel said, grinning up at the sky.  Raguel, on the other hand, rolled her eyes.  Their personalities seemed to reflect their representations, with Ramiel being considered God’s compassion, whereas Raguel was considered His wrath.   

“I think so too,” Hannah replied, looking back at the soul, who was now creating a snowman in Hannah’s likeness.  She smiled.  She had taken a liking to that little girl.

“We need your help defending it.  And all the others,” Raguel chimed in, wanting to get to the point of this meeting.  Hannah looked at her, obviously worried.

“Why?  What’s happening?”

“We’ve been betrayed.  The scribe has given up the door’s location,” Ramiel answered, sadly.  She knew Metatron held a grudge against them, but she did not think he would ever betray their Father and His host to His ancient enemy.  Hannah’s eyes widened; if only she had found Metatron sooner…  If only she hadn’t let him escape in the first place…

“We need you to ready heaven’s troops,” Raguel said after a moment of silence.  Hannah looked bewildered.   

“Me?  Shouldn’t one of you lead?  I mean, you are…you.”  Hannah did not believe that she should be in charge, especially with archangels around. 

“No,” Ramiel replied.  “You have been the one to put heaven back in order.  You have been the one leading the angels up here and, frankly, Father is impressed.”  Hannah couldn’t believe her ears; did…did she just say that her leadership impressed their _Father_?  “That is why he promoted you to seraph.”

“I…I’ve never commanded in battle.”

“You have the trust and loyalty of these angels,” Raguel interrupted, matter-of-factly.  “It makes more sense for their commander to be someone they love and look up to than to be one of us, whom they barely know.  Besides,” she continued, “we will be with Father; He will be commanding us, separately from you and the rest of the Host.  Your job will be protecting the gate.  Ours will be trying to defeat Chaos herself,” she explained.  Essentially, Hannah’s job was defensive; theirs was offensive.   

“We all believe you are the best for this job,” Ramiel said, with a smile on her face.  Despite their reassurance, Hannah was still less than sure.  Sure, she was in charge right now, but she always believed that her leadership role was temporary until someone more capable came along.  For a while, she thought that was Castiel.  She never thought that she would be the one people would look to for guidance.

“How much time do I have?”  She asked the two archangels.

“Unfortunately…not a lot.”

\-----

Sam and Dean had been paying attention to the news, checking to see how many people were getting out of town.  Jody and Donna decided to take Alex and Claire to Donna’s house in Minnesota to wait out the storm.  Neither brother wanted to tell them exactly what was happening (though they had a feeling Jody at the very least knew this storm was more than it appeared); if Claire found out that an angelic battle was going to take place there was no way she would voluntarily leave.  Jody had wanted them to come with, but Sam convinced her that they had some things they still needed to take care of, and that they would follow them in a day or two. 

In reality, they wanted to make sure the majority of people were out of town, and even then, Dean was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving.  Not with Cas in the middle of everything.  He wanted to make sure Cas was safe. 

The storm that the angel created was very convincing, and most people had smartly left.  Unfortunately, even with the “anonymous” fund, some people just could not leave, and others stubbornly refused to leave.  Dean really hated the idea of people being left behind to die, so he continued to pray to Castiel. 

The next time Cas answered – once again appearing in the hunter’s bedroom – he was partially dressed in armor, as if he had been getting ready for war.  The image concerned Dean; Cas looked like a real warrior, which meant he was going to be in a real heavy battle.  But there was another look about him as well; the angel looked less rested, like he had already been fighting something.

“I cannot interfere any more than I already have,” Cas told him after Dean asked if he could get the rest of the people in the town to safety.

“Cas, come on, you know you should help the rest!”  Dean replied, wanting to convince Cas to disobey at least _one more time_.  Just so that these people would fucking leave already.  

“No, I said.”  Cas looked angry when he had to repeat himself, and Dean remembered the last time the angel raised his voice like that: when Dean kept telling Cas to return to heaven after he got out of purgatory, only for his friend to inform him that he didn’t want to see what he had done to it.  He was hurting then.  Perhaps he was hurting now, for some reason.

“Cas…what’s wrong?”

“I already told you.  My Father does not want us to interfere in free will,” the angel responded harshly.  There was more to it than that, Dean was sure.

“But you didn’t!  You just…persuaded,” Dean retorted, wanting Castiel to see what he did in a positive light.  “You saved so many people already!  There’s still more, though, Cas.  You can’t be okay with even one person dying because of this thing!”  Dean knew he was using guilt as a tactic, unfairly, but he would be lying to himself if he said it hadn’t worked in the past.  Maybe it would work again.

“Stop!”  Cas shouted, striding across the room.  “Please.  Just stop.”  Okay, that was weird…

“…Cas?”

“I shouldn’t even be here…” 

Dean heard Cas whisper to himself, and he suddenly felt remorseful; Cas was in the middle of a bunch of stuff, and hell…he was still answering even though he didn’t even _remember_ who Dean was.  The hunter reached out a hand to softly touch Cas’ shoulder, wanting to be comforting.

“Cas.  Talk to me.”

The other man turned around to face him, of course standing too close to the human.  Dean’s breath caught in his throat – Castiel’s eyes had always been bright and lovely, looking as though they had actual stars in them.  Seeing them up close like this always flustered him at least a little bit.  He usually was good at hiding it.  Not right now, though, for some reason.  Maybe because his usual wall wasn’t up.  He was too concerned about Cas.  Too worried for his friend. 

“I was never meant to interfere.  I am supposed to watch.  And yet…you…I want to do things for you.  Why?”  Cassiel looked almost frightful.  How could he want to help one specific person so much when he couldn’t even remember who this person _was_? 

“Man, I already told you.  We have history.  Maybe even though God took away your memories He didn’t take away…you know.  The feelings or some shit.”  Although Dean usually was more okay with so called ‘chick flick’ moments with Castiel, this particular line of conversation was potentially dangerous, given Dean’s own emotions.

“Why wouldn’t He if He is just going to punish me every time I help you?”  Cas blurted out, keeping his eyes fixed on Dean, who looked taken aback and confused.  What did he mean…was he getting his ass reamed in heaven every time he came down to help?  Were they back to doing that?  Dean couldn’t help but feel angry; why was it that whenever Cas didn’t act like the perfect little cold soldier, he was in some serious trouble?  Castiel’s situation mirrored his own childhood, and Dean hated the idea of that.  “I…I want to help you,” the angel continued.  “When you pray to me, I hear your voice over all others, and yet…I don’t know why.  Why wouldn’t Father just take away everything?”

“Maybe He couldn’t,” Dean responded, after a small moment of silence.  Maybe God actually wasn’t able to take away Castiel’s feelings for Dean.  Maybe God could only take away the image of Dean, but…if Cas still remembered how strongly he felt for the hunter, perhaps those feelings were so ingrained in the angel that they were part of Cas’ very being.  They couldn’t be sliced away from Castiel.  The thought made Dean want to smile, even though he certainly did not think he deserved such adoration from a damn angel of the lord.  Still though, he could feel his face warm up somewhat. 

“That…doesn’t make sense.  Father can do anything,” Cas said, even though technically he knew that wasn’t necessarily true.  But when it came to this…Cas firmly believed that God should have been able to take away the feelings that went along with the memories He wanted his son to forget.  It was frustrating; without the memories, these emotions were so confusing, especially for an angel.  They were confusing and overwhelming, which is why Cas felt compelled to respond to the hunter when he prayed to the him, asking for his help.  But he didn’t know what they _meant_.  These feelings were all very human things, so why was an angel experiencing them so strongly?

“Maybe not.”

Cas narrowed his eyes in confusion, not even able to muster up the righteous anger he normally would have when someone insulted his lord Father.  “What does that mean then?  For all of us?”

“I don’t know man,” Dean said after a moment of hesitation.  He felt the need to turn away.  Looking at Cas this long and this closely was too much for him to handle right now.  But as he was turning his head, the angel lifted his hand to the hunter’s cheek, and gently pushed Dean’s face back to face him.  Cas was staring intently into the human’s eyes, as if trying to find the answer to all his questions in those beautiful green orbs.  Dean’s heart sped up, which Cas must have heard, because his hand dropped to the other’s chest. 

“Are you okay?”

Dean didn’t respond for a moment, unable to find the words.    

And suddenly, Castiel’s lips were on his.

It was a short kiss in reality, but to Dean, it felt like minutes went by before Cas pulled away.  The human had been too shocked to reciprocate, but immediately missed the feeling of the other’s mouth on his own. 

“I’m sorry.  That was…inappropriate.  I just felt this impulse…like I needed to do that because I might never get another chance,” he admitted, looking shamefully down at his armor.  Truthfully, Cassiel had no idea what came over him, even though Castiel probably would have known exactly why he just did that.  The two personas were struggling against each other, and it was frustrating to the archangel.  He felt like he was missing pieces of himself, and all he wanted was to put those pieces back together.

Why would God take the memories and leave the feelings?  Could He really not take away the latter even while removing the former? 

These were things he had to think about before the battle.

“Goodbye, Dean.”  The phrase echoed Castiel’s usual ‘hello, Dean,’ which snapped the hunter out of his still shell-shocked trance.

But the angel was already gone.    


	11. March of the Black Queen

Hannah had been able to mobilize the angels quickly; after some initial pushback and speculation, she convinced them of the archangels’ and God’s existence.  She also informed them of Chaos, and how the goddess was responsible for the Darkness on Earth and how she will invade heaven as soon as possible.  Despite their skepticism, the angels trusted Hannah’s word – after all, she had been the one who got them back up on their feet when they were all down, and so followed her instructions carefully. 

She positioned her troops around heaven’s gate, with some on the ground on Earth, while others maintaining a large defensive line in heaven.  To her lieutenant, she gave strict instructions: no matter what, do _not_ cross over.  Even if all of the angels on Earth fell to Chaos, those remaining in heaven comprised the last defense.  The souls in heaven needed to be protected.  If the Darkness penetrated their home, it would destroy everything, including those human souls who were enjoying their well-earned paradises. 

Of course, as the commander, Hannah took position in front on Earth.  Her lieutenant begged her to switch places with him, but she refused, saying that a commander’s position is at the forefront.  Her presence did have a morale boosting effect for those on the front lines, which moved her; all these individuals trusted her and looked up to her, and the last thing she wanted to do was let them down.

Perhaps she really was, as Ramiel and Raguel both said, the best person for this job. 

Soon, those two archangels appeared with Cassiel and Gabriel.  Angels whispered to each other when the four all landed in full armor, holding their special weapons of light which only beings of their status were able to wield.  Their presence too, seemed to have a positive effect; the Host felt more like a rallied army when their long-lost archangels appeared to them. 

“Good work, Hannah,” Gabriel said to her, and she bowed her head in respect.  He laughed a little too loud, almost as if he was not about to risk his life in a grand war against one of the most powerful beings in all of existence.  “Well I’m flattered, but that’s not necessary.  Not for me, anyway,” he added before turning.

Their Father – whom none of them had ever seen – walked towards His angelic host.  They all knew it was Him, despite never having witnessed Him in the past.  God had a presence that they all found warm and familiar, and they felt invigorated just from looking upon His face.  After their initial shock and awe, the angels all got to their knees, bowing their heads to their lord Father.

It was Hannah whom he walked over to. 

“Rise, my daughter.”  The commander did as she was told, and when she looked at her Father’s smiling expression, tears began to form in her eyes.  “You’ve done very well, Hannah.  I’m proud of you.”  He wrapped His arms around her, and the angel couldn’t help herself.  She began to sob into His chest, while he said soothing words to her.  It took her a minute, but she found her breath and calmed.  He kissed her once on her head, and then let her go. 

“I will be with the archangels attacking.  Hannah, you and your troops are to remain defensive, no matter what happens.  The souls’ protection is of utmost importance.”  Hannah nodded, wiping her eyes.  She pictured her favorite heaven, and her favorite little soul.  For that girl, Hannah would do anything, she decided.  

She looked over to Cassiel and smiled.  It really was due to his influence. 

\-----

“Listen, Dean, I’m worried about him too, but I think he’s in a better position to protect himself than we are,” Sam argued.  Despite the storm getting worse and worse, Dean had continued to insist that they stay in order to make sure Castiel was alright.  As much as Sam wanted Cas to be okay and safe as well, he knew there was little they could do as humans in this particular battle. 

“How do you know that?”  Dean countered.  He was even more desperate for Cas’ safety, especially given what happened hours ago.  The memory of Castiel’s lips was still on his own, and he was desperate to ask the angel questions about it.  Even though deep down, he knew Sam was technically correct, he didn’t want to just abandon Castiel to Chaos.  Dean didn’t want to leave with the idea that he had already seen the last of his best friend.  

“Dean, how do you _not_?  Cas is an archangel now, remember?  I know we’ve done some stuff in the past but…this?”  They had done some very impressive things for humans in this supernatural world of theirs, but this war between Chaos and God was just a little outside their paygrade.  Sam knew that Castiel had a better chance of surviving an encounter with Chaos than they did, especially since the archangel was going to be with his Father and siblings.

Sam had faith that they would see Castiel again.  Dean, on the other hand, was too afraid for his friend to have that same faith.  His concern was overwhelming.   

Dean hadn’t told Sam about what had happened between Cas and himself.  It was too much to talk about right now, and the older Winchester was still trying to figure out a way to process it himself.  In a way, he always wanted to kiss Castiel, but that desire had been so buried deep down that he never would have recognized it.  That was before Castiel took the initiative, however. 

Now…now Dean wasn’t sure exactly what he was after when it came to his angel.  But he wanted to find out.

“Sam, I can’t just leave Cas, okay?”

It was the way Dean said it which made Sam realize that something more was going on inside his brother’s head. 

“Dean.  What’s going on?”

“Nothing!  I just don’t want to leave him, alright?  I don’t trust those winged douchebags he’s with to protect him!”  Dean raised his voice, but he sounded more desperate than angry, and Sam knew that now was not the time to pry.  He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Why don’t we head over there now, before anything starts?  We can see the situation; see if he’s protected enough.  If he is, promise me we can get out of here,” Sam offered.  It was a compromise he really didn’t want to make, but he also knew that leaving without making sure Castiel was at least okay – for the time being – was absolutely out of the question. 

Dean thought for a moment.  “Fine, sure.”  He grabbed the keys to the Impala and walked up the bunker’s stairs with Sam following.  Once they got outside, the wind blew hard on their faces, and they looked up.  There was a bright light shining not too far from where they were – Sam knew it was at the playground where heaven’s door was located.  The light wasn’t what concerned them, though.  No, the concern came from the pitch black clouds surrounding it.  They were encircling that area almost like a tornado, and the brothers knew that they didn’t have much time before Chaos was upon those angels. 

Without saying a word, the two got inside the car and sped off.  They were the only vehicle going _towards_ that impending doom.

\-----

Darkness was swirling around, and it was only a matter of time until Chaos showed herself.  The angels were anxious and fidgeting, waiting for an enemy they had never met before.  An enemy who rivaled their Father’s incredible strength and power, and they were tasked with defending their home against it. 

It was no wonder they were apprehensive.

Cassiel and the other three archangels were in the air with their Father, surveying over the area, searching for Chaos’ consciousness.  Amidst her Darkness, they could not see her just yet, but they could feel her getting closer and closer. 

But the next sound they heard wasn’t from their still unseen enemy.  Instead, it was the sound of an old-school car.  They looked down to see the Winchesters’ Impala drive into the light, and the two brothers exit the vehicle. 

“No.  No, no, no,” Cassiel repeated to himself, before diving down to land in front of them.  Ramiel had called out to him, but he didn’t seem to hear her, or he was just choosing to ignore her.  “What are you doing?  You shouldn’t be here!”  He yelled at the two of them, feeling anger and worry mix together within him.  Up in the sky still, God watched this interaction closely, curious about the residual feelings that his seventh archangel had despite the memories of those boys being taken from him.

It was…fascinating, in a way.  Fascinating and surprising.   

Dean had watched Castiel land; his best friend was once again dressed in full armor, holding a spear that looked like it was made of pure light.  He looked impressive, to say the very least, and if not for the setting, Dean would have paid the angel some compliment.  “We couldn’t just leave you.  I had to make sure you were alright,” he said, slipping up on that second sentence. 

“ _I’m_ fine, but you two need to leave, now, or you won’t be,” Cas responded, desperately.  They needed to get out of the area, immediately. 

“Oh, it’s too late for that now, Cassiel,” Chaos finally said, her words echoing loud enough so everyone could hear her.  She emerged from the shadows in front of heaven’s host, her Darkness flourishing around her like a hurricane.  She was smiling, and God landed in front of her, his archangels in tow.  Cassiel looked over at them and then back at the brothers. 

“Stay in the car.”  He didn’t know what else to say.

“Oh I think the Winchesters are more than capable of joining our little squabble, don’t you?”  Chaos looked over and smiled at them.

Those two really were her favorites.  Here they were, jumping into this fray that no other human would even dream of.  They were strong and brave.  And that is why they would survive in her world.

Cassiel glided over to his archangel siblings, taking his place next to Gabriel. 

“Chaos,” God said after a moment of silence.  “Leave this place.  You’re outnumbered and outmatched.”

She just laughed.  “My dear Yahweh…don’t you dare think this is going to go the same as last time.  You might have your little garrison, but I have an _army_.” 

Once she said that, she lifted her arms, and from the shadows, figures emerged.  But they weren’t just any figures.  They were familiar.  They had blackened halos and smoky wings.  They had the faces of beings long dead.  One of the creatures walked over and stood next to Chaos, hollow eyes filled with that black smoke. 

“Raphael…?”

The archangel once named Raphael now stood across from his brothers and sisters, eyes narrowed and defiant.  Behind him, Dean could see the faces of dead angels – Balthazar, Naomi, Hester, Zachariah, Anna, Samandriel, Uriel, and so many more.  Even God looked surprised; surprised and hurt.  Those were His children, after all, and all of them were sporting those hollow eyes. 

“Ah, yes, I thought this reunion would be a little awkward,” Chaos said, while laughing.  She put a hand on Raphael’s shoulder.  “Where did you think your angels went after they died, Yahweh?  Nothing just ceases to exist.  They return to me,” she explained.  “Your angels are pure light; their light ceases when they die, and they become part of my Darkness.”  She looked at Raphael, smiling.  “They return to their purest, most natural state.  And thanks to that one,” she said, pointing directly at Cassiel, “and his blind ambition and the genocide of his own kind…I have the army I’ve always wanted.  And it is more than enough to defeat you, Yahweh.”    

“Enough!”  Raguel shouted suddenly, unable to listen to this anymore.  Her swords were out, and she charged at Chaos, only for the angel formerly known as Naomi to intercept her.  The two clashed, and a shockwave emanated from them.  The pulse caused Sam and Dean – who did not heed Cassiel’s warning to get back in the car – to fly backwards into two different trees. 

Cassiel had watched them, and darted over to try and help the brothers, only for Balthazar’s likeness to stop him.  The former angel grabbed Cassiel’s arm, throwing him away from the humans.  The archangel stopped himself mid-air. 

Around them, the battle had erupted; angels clashed with former angels.  Light clashed with Darkness.  Thunder and lightning crashed and flashed all around while the winds seemed to pick up, forming a tornado with the angels at the center.  Sam and Dean were forced to stay against their trees, unable to get up and help.  The elements were too much for them, unfortunately.  They were forced to just sit there and watch as God’s host battled against the Darkness.

Gabriel took on Raphael, shouting to him.  “Raphael, it’s me!”  But the former archangel did not recognize his younger brother, slashing at him with his dark sword.  Gabriel dodged it, and then parried the next blow with his own weapon.  There was no use trying to get through to the dead angels – they were connected to Chaos’ consciousness now. 

They belonged to her.

Ramiel took to the air with her arrows, trying to assist her brothers and sisters from above, but Uriel followed her closely.  She was able to hit a few dark angels that neither Winchester recognized.  When her arrows pierced their hearts, the dark angels disintegrated, their essences returning back to Chaos.  Unfortunately, with Uriel following her, she wasn’t able to aid for much longer before having to turn her attention on him.  She put her palm up, and a shock of light emanated from it.  Uriel screamed and disintegrated, but just as he did, two more dark angels took his place.  The archangel clenched her jaw in frustration.

Hannah, meanwhile, was leading the host against the dark angels, trying to prevent any of them from reaching and then opening the gate to heaven.  There were so many of them, but Hannah was determined to protect the door.  She turned against the angel formerly known as Anna; their angel blades clashed together, making a high-pitched sound.

However, Dean’s attention was on Cas, who was battling against Balthazar.  For Cas, it was painful to see his friend’s eyes hollowed out the way they were.  But he could not think about the relationship he and Balthazar once had, not now.  If he thought about it too much, he would fall on the other’s dark blade, and become part of Chaos’ army.  His spear parried the other’s sword, creating flashing lights every time they clashed against each other.  The humans watched, lucky that those lights were not blinding.  Otherwise, their eyes would have been burned out of their skulls by now.

“Cas!”  Dean shouted, when he saw another dark angel headed towards his friend.  Cassiel looked – this time, it was Samandriel who was coming at him.  He pushed Balthazar away and held up his palm.  “I’m sorry,” he whispered, before the light came and went, causing his once two friends to disintegrate back into the Darkness. 

While the angels fought, God and Chaos had taken to the sky above them, levitating in the air.  They appeared to be talking, though no one was able to make out what they were saying.  Finally, it happened: God’s light clashed with Chaos’ dark essence, and the melee caused almost lightning to strike the ground around them.          

Raguel, who disposed of Naomi, looked up, and tried to reach her Father.  Unfortunately, three dark angels cut her off, and even after she smote them, more took their places.  They were blocking her from reaching God, who continued to individually battle the dark goddess.  Ramiel was able to pierce one of them through the heart with one of her arrows, before floating next to Raguel.  The two levitated in the air, back to back, while familiar faces with hollow eyes surrounded them. 

In the meantime, Gabriel was having a more difficult time disposing of Raphael.  The former archangel’s strength had followed him into this next life, and so, the two were more even than the other matchups.  With every light that Gabriel hit Raphael with, the other countered with an equally destructive darkness, and the two remained practically at a standstill. 

Cassiel saw Gabriel, and began to rush in to help him, but stopped when he saw Zachariah moving toward Dean Winchester, who was still up against that tree.  Until then, the two humans had gone unnoticed, but perhaps Zachariah still had a residual feeling of contempt against the older Winchester for killing him.  Cassiel turned course, and dove down to Dean, bringing his spear up to block the blow that Zachariah was about to bring down on the human.  Dean hadn’t been able to move; the forces from the two armies had been too great and kept him pinned against that tree; he couldn’t get any closer or further away, he found.  It was almost like he was strapped there.  Which is why he was extremely grateful when Cas landed in front of him to battle Zachariah.

Cassiel’s blade pierced through the dark angel’s neck, almost mirroring how he had died in life. 

“Cas, thank yo-”

“Don’t thank me,” Cas said, in a scolding tone.  He was angry, but that anger was borne more out of worry than anything.  How could these two have so little disregard for their own lives that they would try and come into a battle like this?  He looked up, surveying the area until his eyes fell on his Father and Chaos.

The goddess’ darkness was strong, and surrounding God on all sides.  The Father of light kept pushing it back, but His nemesis was much stronger than she was the first time He faced her.  Plus, with her army of dark angels, she was able to block any of His children from reaching Him to help. 

Cassiel took off again, becoming worried for his Father; this did not happen last time.  Last time, Chaos was not able to surround Him like that.  Before he could get close, however, Hael, Rachel, and Hester formed a trio to stop him, force pushing him back into the dirt.  Raguel and Ramiel too, tried to break away from their fight to reach their Father, but kept getting pushed away by Darkness; no matter how hard they each tried, none of them seemed like they were able to reach Him.

“Your Host isn’t nearly as impressive without the Morningstar and your First, Yahweh,” Chaos taunted.  “It’s a shame you punished Lucifer simply because he chose freedom.” 

“You corrupted him!” God replied, becoming righteously furious.  A blinding light came from him, and nearby dark angels were disintegrated.  But Chaos…Chaos just laughed.

“You like to think that, Yahweh, but we both know that my influence only sped up his fall!  I did not cause it, and you know it!” She slashed at Him, hitting His arm.  The wound opened up, and that burgundy-colored blood filled with galaxies began to pour out from it.  Chuck grit his teeth together.  “Lucifer was never your perfect lieutenant!  He always had the desire to be free!  He always had my Darkness!”

Another slash across His chest, and another open wound.

“Father!”  Raguel cried out, again trying to reach Him.  Unfortunately, she also once again found dark angels blocking her path.  Cassiel too, tried another time, but found the same trio against him. 

God looked down at his children.  All of them were fighting for heaven and the souls which inhabited it.  Hannah was commanding His host brilliantly, yet was finding the Darkness overwhelming.  His archangels, who were trying so desperately to get to and help Him, were unable to reach.  They would die trying, He knew.

He looked at Chaos and dropped his arms.

“You will never get into heaven.” 

And Chaos plunged her shadow blade into his sternum.

The battle seemed to stop below them, with everyone looking up at the scene unfolding above.  Chaos pulled God in close, and whispered in his ear.

“ _And He shall reign forever and ever._ ”

When she pulled out her blade, massive amounts of blood poured out from his wound, and onto the sandbox which held heaven’s gate.  The sand began to glow, swirling around like a small tornado, before a forceful shockwave came from it and pushed everyone back. 

Meanwhile, Sam, Dean, Cassiel, and the rest of heaven’s host watched.

They watched as God’s blood emptied onto the ground.  They heard him say a small incantation in a language none of them knew.

And then, they watched as he looked up and closed his eyes.  His entire being became darker, and then slowly, piece by piece, he seemed to break down into little specks of light until there was nothing left of the Father of angels.

And they watched as Chaos smiled, her darkness becoming wild and powerful.  She sang.

“ _Hallelujah.”_   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is lacking; this is the first time I've ever tried to write a big battle sequence like this and I have no beta reader. I hope you liked it regardless! <3


	12. Tears in Heaven

Time seemed to stop.  The angels were all staring wide-eyed at the place their Father had disintegrated; they could feel the loss of His presence almost immediately.  Their morale plummeted, their wings seemed to move slower, and their strength seemed to fade a little. 

Lightning struck around Chaos as she took a deep breath in and out, relishing her victory.  She looked down at the angels, beaming.  Her being that happy was in no way good news for them.

It happened very quickly: in God’s absence, Chaos used her newfound power to create piercing blades from her Darkness.  One by one, she began using them to slaughter the remaining angels, who scattered in a panic, trying to flee the goddess’ reach.  With every one she killed, she added another to her own army. 

“We need to get out of here!”  Ramiel shouted.  Just as Raguel was about to protest, wanting nothing more than to revenge her lord Father, a blade struck Ramiel’s right wing, and the archangel fell to the ground, unable to keep herself up in the air anymore.  Raguel dove towards her, using her swords of light to block another set of shadows from hurting Ramiel.  She lifted the other angel up in her arms and shouted something Enochian to Gabriel.  Her older brother kicked Raphael far away from him and nodded, yelling something in response.

She then flew off quickly, disappearing while still holding onto Ramiel. 

Hannah, meanwhile, watched horrified as the members of her army fell.  Some of them died while protecting her from the shadows aimed directly at their commander.  She quickly flew towards Gabriel.

“Gabriel, what should we do now?”  She sounded almost panicked; even as a leader, it was difficult to stay calm given what was happening around them.

“We need to go,” he responded in Enochian.  “You’ll need to follow me, since you don’t know where it is.”  He did not tell her what ‘it’ was right there, however, for fear of Chaos’ listening ears.  

“Wait, I can’t just leave them all here to die!”  She replied, referring to her brothers and sisters still on the ground.  They were fighting as best they could, but there was no way that the ones still alive would survive for much longer.       

“Tell them to follow too.  But if they can’t keep up, we can’t slow down to risk Chaos following us,” Gabriel explained.  Hannah had no idea what he was talking about, but she had a feeling it was a secret shared with God and only his archangels.  Gabriel then shouted to Cassiel, something about “the sanctuary” before flying over to grab Sam.  He beckoned Hannah to follow, and she sounded the retreat to the rest of the host.  She wanted to wait for them all to move first, but they were so sporadic in their speeds that she knew she couldn’t.  And then, she received their blessing; she heard injured angels telling her to go, to get out of there.  Hannah could feel tears forming, but she complied, following after Gabriel and Sam as close as she could.

Cassiel was trying to follow as well, but Chaos’ shadows kept stopping him.  The goddess was throwing so much at him, and he was dodging as best as he could, but could feel her blades against his skin, causing some cuts to form on his cheeks and arms and legs. 

Meanwhile, Dean watched.  He watched the angels fall on Chaos’ blades, and he watched Cas trying desperately to get away from her Darkness.  His breath hitched in his throat; he felt so useless.  No matter how much he struggled, he could not even get away from his tree.  Cas needed help, and he couldn’t do anything to help him.  He shouted for his friend, hoping that his voice would travel through the sounds of thunder and battle and death.

Of course, the archangel did hear him.  And Dean’s voice seemed to invigorate him.  Despite the grace bleeding from his wounds, he persisted, slashing away at the Darkness with his spear.  The human’s presence caused his strength to return, and Castiel’s desire to save the other beckoned his wings to go faster. 

Finally, he broke through, and reached the human.  “Hang on,” he said, before grabbing Dean from behind, pulling the hunter into some sort of bear hug.  Dean couldn’t help but notice – even in the middle of this bedlam – that Castiel’s right hand was on his left arm, where the angel’s handprint was once burned into his skin.  Then, Cas was pulling him from Hell, saving him after years of torment.  Now, his best friend was saving him yet again, even when he should be focused on his own wellbeing.  

“You know you can’t run forever, Cassiel!”  Chaos taunted, but surprisingly, let him fly off with his human.

She watched, finishing off any stragglers before floating back down to the ground.  Approaching the sandbox, she began saying an ancient verse.  The door glowed once, until the blood that God had spilled onto it suppressed the light.  Chaos’ smile fell, and she said the verse a second time.  Once again, the door began to glow until the blood inhibited it, and suddenly the goddess understood. 

Yahweh purposely did this.  He knew that His army would lose, so He did not try to get away from her blade.  He fell so that He could use his blood to shut this particular door to heaven permanently.  There was no going in or out this way.  She’d have to find another way in. 

Chaos cursed, and looked over at where she last saw Cassiel before he flew off.

No matter.  This was a minor setback.  She would see them all again.  Besides, she still had the scribe in her service.

\-----

This time, Dean was not thrown in the water when he and Cas landed in God’s sanctuary.  Instead, the angel gently landed on the sand, letting go of the hunter slowly.  He did not even look at him, however, as he pushed past to look out to the water.  Ramiel and Raguel were both already in the sea, while Gabriel was standing on edge with Hannah, letting the tide wash over his feet.  Sam made his way over to Dean, and the two surveyed the angels.

Now that they were back in heaven, the two humans could once again see the angels’ wings.  They were beaten and scarred and torn, though still useable.  With the exception of Ramiel’s; the place where Chaos’ blade punctured her right wing looked infected.  Even the water of the holy sea she was standing in was not doing much to help her festering wound.  She looked as though she was in great pain, though that also probably had to do with the fact that she just watched her Father die.

Raguel was further out, and the brothers heard an anguished cry come from her.  She hugged herself and sunk deeper into the water, sobbing.  While watching, Gabriel closed his eyes and allowed his tears to streak his cheeks, while Hannah was desperately trying to keep hers from falling.  She was still trying to give off the hardened commander vibe, but she felt responsible for the deaths of those angels on Earth.  Truly, she hoped that they were able to get away, but none except her had been able to keep up with Gabriel’s speed.  She was the only non-archangel that made it to God’s haven, which remained – luckily – a secret from the dark goddess. 

Dean turned his attention to Castiel, who was still staring out at the horizon.  He wasn’t crying, but he also said nothing.  The human walked over so he could stand in front of him, wanting to see the angel’s face.  Cas didn’t acknowledge him; he just kept staring off into the distance with an emotionless expression. 

“Cas…”  Dean spoke after a few moments of silence.  Without moving his head, Castiel looked at the other, his eyes sad. 

“He’s…He’s gone.  I can feel it,” Cas explained.  Truthfully, he wanted to believe that His Father had pulled some elaborate trick to cause Chaos to only _think_ she killed him, but…he could feel God’s absence.  They all could.  They knew that their Father was gone.  “He can’t help us.  And…I’ll never get my memories back.”  Castiel knew that there was a selfishness in saying that, but ever since Dean told him that they had history, Cas had been pining to remember everything about the human.  Those memories were a part of him, and they were the key to understanding the overwhelming emotions which swirled within him.  They were the missing piece which solved the puzzle as to why he felt certain things when he looked at Dean Winchester.

“ _You!_ ”  Cas was brought back to reality when he heard Raguel’s livid voice, and saw the other archangel storming towards them.  Her usual companion remained in the pool, silently crying from both the emotional and physical agony she was enduring.  Raguel stopped in front of her younger brother, pointing at Dean and then at Sam.  “What are _they_ doing here?”

“We couldn’t leave them.”  Castiel replied, suddenly finding his voice again.  His eyes narrowed.

“ _They_ are the reason this has all happened!  _They_ are the reason Father is _gone_!”  Angry tears formed on the brims of her eyes.  “Why should they be saved while He wasn’t?  Why should they be alive while so many of our brothers and sisters were just killed?  _Why, Cassiel_?”

“They’re my friends!”

“No, they aren’t!  They have screwed you over time and time again, and have basically killed Father, and you are still claiming they are your friends?  You don’t even _know who they are anymore_!”  

“Hey, back off!”  Dean stepped protectively in between the two angels, despite the fact that Raguel looked like she wanted to end him right then and there. 

“You don’t _belong here_ , human.  Thanks to you taking on the mark so carelessly and your toxic codependency with each other,” she said while gesturing to Sam, “our Father is gone, and Chaos is steps closer to destroying _everything_.  You two caused _all of this_.”

Dean didn’t argue with her, because she was technically correct.  Although he knew he would never have killed Sam in that moment with Death and that Sam never would have stopped searching for the cure to the mark, he was completely aware of how they were responsible for the Darkness’ release. 

“Listen-” Sam started, wanting to explain himself, but Raguel just held her palm up, telling him to stop.

“There is _no excuse_ ,” she scolded once more, turning away from them. 

“Raguel…”  Cas started, but she silenced him as well with an angry look. 

“Cassiel…you say they’re your friends.  But aren’t we _your family_?  Don’t we matter too?”  She spoke softly and sadly that time, visibly hurt at how much her brother could defend these two humans to her even after what just happened.  How could he always choose them over his angelic brothers and sisters?  Why did the angels mean so little to him in comparison to the Winchesters?

Cas said nothing, unable to find an adequate response.  He watched her fly away.  She went back to Ramiel, taking her injured sister in her arms.  Quietly, she began to speak soothing words to the hurting archangel, whose tears had yet to stop.

Before Dean could think of anything potentially comforting he could say to his friend, Gabriel flew over, leaving Hannah where she was.  The commander sunk down, hugging her knees and letting herself cry now that she was alone.

“Gabriel…what do we do now?”  Sam asked the archangel. 

“Well…I have an idea, but no one’s gonna like it.”

That didn’t sound good, but all attention was now on Gabriel.  The former trickster took a deep breath, knowing that what he was about to say was going to elicit a less than enthusiastic reaction.  “I think we need to get Michael and Lucifer.”

“What?!”  Both Winchesters shouted at the same time, with incredulous looks on their faces.  Cas too, had a horrified expression. 

“Gabriel, you can’t be serious,” Cas said, still not believing his own ears.  Hopefully this was just another elaborate joke of Gabriel’s, but…given how serious his older brother looked, and what just happened to them…nope.  Not a joke at all. 

“I am.  Completely.”

“No,” Dean said, immediately.  His eyes were narrowed.  The last time Lucifer was on earth, he was trying to wear Sam to the prom.  And Michael…well, Dean had personal beef with that one. 

“You aren’t exactly in the position to be demanding anything, kiddo,” the golden-winged archangel replied.  “We’ll build them new vessels, so they won’t torment the two of you.  But we need them.  They’re the two most powerful archangels, and we just lost Dad.”

“Do you think we can build adequate vessels for them?”  Cas inquired.  Dean looked at his friend, bewildered.  He wasn’t seriously considering going along with this ridiculous plan, was he?  

“Dunno, honestly.  But I know those two,” he answered, pointing to the brothers, “won’t ever let them in, which is their right.  So we need to at least try.”

“How do you know that they’ll even want to help?  Don’t they want to end the world?”  Sam too, was annoyed with the idea; having the Devil stalking him was not something the younger Winchester ever wanted to go through again.     

“Not like this.  Chaos is a common enemy of theirs, and you know what?  Luci’s tantrum was because he wasn’t Dad’s favorite anymore.  He loved Dad.  I’m sure he will want revenge.  Michael too.  They’ll hopefully put their shit aside to come together.  Enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.”  Gabriel sounded more confident in the plan than he actually was.  He looked around at the skeptical faces staring back at him, and sighed.  “Look guys, I don’t like it either.  Luci almost killed me the last time I saw him, remember?  But it is the only move we got right now.”

Dean, Sam, and Cas looked at each other, obviously worried.  Although Cas did not remember his time with the two brothers, he did remember Lucifer’s fall, and the hatred the Morningstar had for humanity in general.  That alone made him more than a little nervous. 

But Gabriel was right.  They had no other moves right now.

“Gabriel, we don’t know _where_ the cage is anymore, though.”  Since hell’s shakeup with Crowley and Abaddon, the exact position of the cage had been lost.  “And how are we supposed to open it without breaking the seals?”

“Well…I figure we could ask someone else who knows hell front and back.”  He replied, looking directly at Dean.  The older Winchester took a moment before realizing what exactly he meant.

“Crowley.”    


	13. Aces High

The brothers felt a little left out when the four archangels and the seraph convened together far out in the water to discuss their plan.  Gabriel had told the two humans to wait; although they listened, they weren’t too happy about it.  It seemed almost as if they were being shunned, with the angels keeping their secrets amongst each other. 

It took a little too long for Dean’s liking; his impatience was getting the best of him.  Finally, he shouted to the otherworldly siblings, telling them to “hurry their asses up.”  The five turned to look at him, but Dean was too far away to see their expressions.  Then, he smirked a little when Hannah, Raguel and Ramiel all disappeared, feeling quite pleased with himself.  About damn time they got themselves moving.

Gabriel then left as well, and only Cas remained in the water.  Dean couldn’t stop himself from staring; although all four archangels had gorgeous wings, Castiel’s were by far the most spectacular.  They reminded Dean of the starry sky at the darkest time of night; he remembered gazing upon those skies plenty of times with Sammy…and with Cas.  He recalled those nights where they did not have to do a job, where they were just sitting on the roof of the Impala, drinking beer and enjoying the view.  One time, Cas got excited about telling the brothers about the constellations, pointing out ones that neither human ever really noticed before and giving the story about each and every of them.  While Dean seemed annoyed at the time (while Sam was, of course, super into these tales), he listened to every single word Cas said.  Most of all, he remembered the light that shone in Castiel’s eyes; how happy the angel had looked when he was telling those stories.  When he felt like he was part of the family, Castiel seemed the happiest.

And now…now Castiel didn’t have those memories.  He wouldn’t remember sitting on the Impala that night or any other night.  And he wouldn’t remember eating pizza in the bunker with the brothers and Charlie.  He wouldn’t remember all those times he came to Dean’s rescue, and all those times Dean prayed to him.  All he had were feelings that he couldn’t parse out.  Emotions which were difficult to understand, because the memories attached to them were all gone. 

Dean cursed God being dead…because now he couldn’t chew out the bastard himself.  How could he do this to Cas…

The hunter was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice Castiel walking towards him until the archangel was right in front of his face. 

“Jeez, Cas!”  Dean jumped back, startled.  He tried to ignore that stupid head tilt that Cas did.  “Personal space, remember?”

But no, Cassiel didn’t remember, because the last time he saw him before the battle was when they kissed.  So, while the angel didn’t understand what Dean’s problem was now, the hunter was too embarrassed to be in such close proximity to his best friend.

Sam, meanwhile, did notice Dean’s odd behavior.  He always had a feeling that his older brother had a special thing for Castiel, but…he couldn’t help but think that something happened that he was not aware of.  Not yet, anyway.

Just as Cas was opening his mouth to respond to Dean’s outburst, Gabriel came back, holding a fine crystal bowl. 

“Alright, well boys, listen up.  No demon is allowed anywhere near heaven, and that includes your little king friend.” 

“He’s not our friend,” Sam interjected, looking offended that Gabriel would even suggest such a thing.  The archangel just rolled his eyes and continued.

“Yeah, sure.  Anyway, he ain’t allowed in heaven, and if we go to Earth, Chaos will find us for sure.  But she has a better shot at _not_ finding you two, and we can give you something that will make you temporarily hidden from her.”

“You guys have something that powerful?”  Sam asked in disbelief. 

“Well duh.”  And right after Gabriel said that, he took out a nondescript blade and cut open his arm, holding it over the crystal bowl.  He then passed the blade to Cas, who repeated the action.  “Okay, that was the easy part.”  Both angels –after pouring enough blood out into the bowl – healed themselves.  The humans thought that was it, until Cas took out his angel blade.

“Woah, woah, what are you gonna do with that?”  Dean exclaimed, not liking where this was headed.  Cas didn’t look phased in the slightest, however.

“Dean, we must give a little bit of our grace to power the concoction.  Only then will it be able to hide you.”

Dean was going to protest again, but Sam put his hand on his brother’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring nod.  So, instead, he stayed silent.

Castiel brought the angel blade to his wrist and sliced his skin.  The wound opened up and light shone from it; he allowed a little bit of grace to flow from the cut and into the bowl.  It wasn’t a lot, but still caused the blood to glow brightly.  Gabriel followed suit, adding his own grace to the mixture, and the glow became stronger.  The grace and the blood swirled together.

After a few more seconds, Gabriel dipped two of his fingers into the bowl and turned to Sam.  He began to draw some Enochian symbols on his face, smirking at the younger Winchester when his fingers dragged blood on his neck.  Sam almost pouted, giving the archangel an annoyed look.

“Dean,” Cas said, causing the hunter to redirect his gaze.  Before Dean could say anything, Cas was gently drawing on his face.  Their noses were so close, and Dean couldn’t hold the angel’s gaze for very long without averting his eyes away.  Why did Cas always have to look so damn _intense_?   

When Castiel’s fingers reached his neck, Dean couldn’t stop himself from shivering.  The angel was so tender with what he was doing, like he was afraid of breaking the human with his touch.  Really, Cas just felt like he needed to go slow with the other for some reason, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t like the way Dean’s skin under his fingers made him feel.  It was still odd and difficult to understand for an angel with no memories, but he felt warm whenever he touched the human.  It made him want to touch more, but he knew he had to stop and stay focused on their task at hand.

He brought his hand down, and Dean immediately missed the feeling of the angel’s fingers on his face, but said nothing in protest.  He was grateful that the former trickster was teasing and distracting Sam, otherwise later he’d have to deal with the inevitable ‘what was _that_ ’ question (coupled with a shit-eating grin) from his little brother.

“There,” Castiel said, softly, as Dean’s skin absorbed the blood-grace mixture.  “Now you should be hidden and protected from Chaos, at least temporarily.  You won’t feel her effects and she shouldn’t be able to find you.”

“Wait, so we need to go talk to Crowley without you guys?  How’re we supposed to explain this all to him?”

“I dunno, genius, maybe just tell him that everything’s gonna go to shit if he doesn’t?”  Gabriel said while rolling his eyes.  “We’re gonna be with Hannah, Rami, and Raguel working on the new vessels.  Pray to one of us when you get things squared away.”  He then disappeared, leaving only the brothers and Cas. 

“I wish I could go with you,” Cas whispered.  But Cassiel knew that his angelic light would be a beacon in the Darkness, and Chaos would be able to find them almost instantly if he was by their sides.  It would be better that he stay in the sanctuary with his siblings.  “Be careful.”

Sam and Dean nodded, and when Castiel put his palms on each of their foreheads, they closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

\-----

No matter how many times they were teleported via angelic powers, neither Sam nor Dean would ever get used to the feeling.  After getting over a bit of nausea, the two realized that they had no idea where they were; Cas did not send them back to the bunker, feeling Chaos was still in that area. 

In fact, Cas didn’t even send them back to the United States; the brothers were standing in a deserted field in Scotland, where a certain King of Hell’s bones had been previously buried and dug up.  The grave had been once again filled in, and flowers were growing up from beneath the soil.  It was funny, to think that Crowley’s grave would be covered in such lovely plants. 

“So…you should probably call him,” Sam said to his brother.  “He likes you better.”  After so much time the two had spent together, it wasn’t necessarily hard for Sam to see how much Crowley actually _enjoyed_ Dean’s company.  Though he wasn’t sure if the King would have the same affection now for any Winchester, after the altercation he and Sam had.  But, this was apparently their only option, and so they had to take it.

Dean sighed and pulled out his phone, finding Crowley’s name in his contacts list.  He hesitated a little at first, but pushed the call button. 

“Squirrel,” Crowley’s voice said after only one ring, and Dean rolled his eyes at the less-than-affectionate nickname.  “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Listen, we gotta talk to you.  In person.  We’re at your gravesite.”

“Oh, of course Moose is with you,” he replied, sounding almost disappointed.  “Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to deal with you boys right now.”  Of course, despite his apology he sounded like he was anything _but_ apologetic.

“It’s about the whole Darkness thing-”

And suddenly, Crowley was in front of them. 

“Well,” Dean said, hanging up his phone and placing it back into his pocket.  “What took you so long?”  He took a step toward the demon, but stopped short once he heard a set of snarls. 

“Yep,” Crowley said with a proud smile.  “Got two new ones.  And if you try to kill them I will rip your hearts out of your chests.”  He still wasn’t completely over them murdering his last pet. 

“Fine, fine, just…call them off!”  Dean was slightly nervous; he still hated hellhounds. 

Crowley held up his hand and the snarling stopped.  Although the brothers couldn’t see them, the two hounds sat loyally next to their master, waiting for his command.  However, they still watched the humans intently, waiting for one of the brothers to make a wrong move so they could have a reason to use their sharp teeth to tear the skin off their necks.  “What do you want?”  They heard their master ask. 

“We gotta open the cage.  To get Lucifer and Michael,” Sam interjected. 

“...you’ve officially gone insane, haven’t you boys?  Well, now that we know, you two can get the help you so desperately need.”

“We’re serious.”  Dean then told Crowley the information that he felt the King of Hell needed to know – the existence of Chaos, her plans for a universe filled with war, God’s fall and the slaughter that the angels just endured, and, finally, why Lucifer and Michael would theoretically help them now.  “Look, we don’t like it either, but it’s kind of our only option now.”

“And how, pray tell, do you plan on _opening_ the cage, hmm?  You’re right in that I know where it is, but I can’t _open it_ ,” Crowley informed them.  “Without Lilith you can’t use the seals, and the rings aren’t an option since we don’t know where most of them bloody _are_.”

“Shit,” Dean exclaimed.  The demon was right; how were they supposed to free the two archangels if they didn’t have the rings of the horsemen?

“I think the angels know how,” Sam brought up.  Truthfully he wasn’t sure if the angels _did_ know, but it was the only explanation he could think of.  Crowley just glared in his direction, before turning back to Dean.

“Okay, well, why should I help you two anyway?”

“Look, this Darkness is going to destroy _everything_ , hell included.  You really want to have to deal with demons and, shit, _everyone_ trying to kill you?  It’s anarchy!”

Crowley thought for a moment.  That Darkness already was affecting Hell, and despite how much he enjoyed watching his two hounds dispose of those who had been trying to get to him, he did know that dealing with that sort of thing all the time would get cumbersome at best.   “Fine, but if I’m going to help you, I want a guarantee of my safety,” he said, staring directly at Sam, who shifted a little. 

“Yeah, fine, whatever.”

“No, no,” the king responded, before waving his hand.  A contract appeared.  “Basically this says that neither one of you, nor your little angel friends, can try to kill me.  You do, and my pups here will drag your soul down to a dark corner in hell and use you as their personal chew toys.”  Crowley didn’t trust Sam, so felt that he needed to add in that threat in order to guarantee his safety from his potential ‘allies.’  “Oh, and you’re not allowed to hurt the dogs either.  Don’t want you going off and killing these two like you did my last pooch.”

“Fine!”  This was getting ridiculous, and Dean grabbed the pen that was in Crowley’s hand and signed the damn contract.  Sam followed suit, not exactly liking what they were doing.  But at the same time, he knew that they needed Crowley’s help and didn’t have the time to sit here and discuss terms with him.

Once the two of them signed, Crowley rolled the contract back up and put it in his inside jacket pocket.  “Wanna get your angel boyfriend to come down here now?” 

Dean narrowed his eyes at Crowley’s deliberate use of that word.  And then he prayed.

“Hey Cas.  Uh, we got him to agree to help us and-”

And Cas was in front of them.  In his hand he held a large vial of blood, which he then put into his pocket.  Considering how it looked, it must have been God’s.  The angels must have had a reserve of it somewhere.  Creepy, but the stuff was powerful.  

“Castiel.  Love the new look.  Very sexy.  Very…thematic.”  Crowley was commenting on Cas’ new black outfit. 

Cas ignored Crowley’s comment and turned to the brothers.  “Thank you both.”  Just as he was raising his hand to zap them back to the sanctuary, Dean stopped him.

“Cas, wait.”  The angel looked confused.  “We need to make sure our friends are okay.”  He was, of course, referring to Jody, Donna, Claire, and Alex, all of whom were supposedly still in Minnesota. 

“They are.  That one…Claire…she prays to me every day.  I put their house under a protection spell.”  Again, Cassiel wouldn’t be able to tell you why specifically he felt the need to do that, not remembering who that girl was.  But he did have this overwhelming urge to keep her safe.  The feeling was beyond his desire to protect humanity in general – it was specific to that one young woman.  His lost memories would probably have been able to give him the answer. 

It was so frustrating, not having those.

“Still though, Cas.  We should go check on them.  We’re still protected from Chaos, right?”  Sam asked.  Castiel nodded, but didn’t look too pleased with their insistence.  “Then please, Cas.  Let us check up on them.” 

Against his better judgement, Cas sighed and agreed.  “Very well.  Pray to one of us if you need help.” 

With that, he put his palms on their foreheads and they disappeared, leaving the angel alone with the king.

“Shall we, darling?”  

Crowley put his hand on Castiel’s shoulder, and they too, vanished.


	14. The Number of the Beast

Traveling down to the pit was…obnoxious, to say the least.  Due to the Darkness’ influence, demons were zoning in on Crowley and Cassiel; the latter’s light guided their enemies toward them.  They weren’t a match for the King of Hell and the Seventh Archangel, but having to smite and kill demons every couple of seconds was annoying.  At least Crowley’s hounds were having a good time. 

As they plunged deeper into Hell, however, the demons slowed down.  It seemed that demons did not touch this particular level, not even ones that Chaos had under her influence.  Lucifer and Michael’s combined lights were too much for most of them, and the majority of demons couldn’t even make it down here. Crowley, however, was different.  He’d been around plenty of angels to be able to handle the presence of those two.  Not that they didn’t make him nervous…he just wouldn’t show it in front of them.

The two approached the cage cautiously, and Cassiel anxiously swallowed; this would be the first time that the archangel was seeing his brothers in thousands of years.  Even in the deepest pit of Hell, and even after Lucifer’s fall, his oldest brothers were bright and beautiful and terrifying.  Crowley stopped before getting too close to the cage, allowing the angel to go up to it alone.  This was one family quarrel he was in no mood to get in the middle of. 

“Hello brother,” Lucifer said, his voice smooth and almost seductive.  He leaned against the cages’ bars, smirking at Cas. 

“Cassiel,” Michael chimed in, gliding over to the front of the cage, looking at his youngest archangel brother with widened eyes.  “You’re back.”    

Cas looked down at himself and shrugged.  “Yes, Father felt it necessary after…Chaos returned.”

“Let me guess,” Lucifer sighed.  “Winchesters?  Those two are always ruining everything.”    

Although Michael agreed – those boys had been the ones to ruin what was supposed to be their final showdown – he glared in Lucifer’s direction.  “We sensed her return.  We also…”  He trailed off, looking forlorn. 

“Is it true?”  Cas turned to Lucifer, who suddenly appeared very serious and…sad, almost.  “Is Father dead?”  Both archangels had also felt God’s death; it was an uncomfortable and sickening feeling that happened very suddenly, and both of them had predicted that that could only mean one thing.   

Cas didn’t want to answer that vocally, so he just nodded his head and dropped his gaze to the floor.  Which is why he was incredibly startled when Lucifer suddenly banged on the front of the cage, yelling at him.

“How could you let this happen?”  The light within Lucifer burned hot; no matter what anyone said about the Devil, no one could ever say that he did not love his lord Father.  “Where were you?  Where were _any_ of you?”   Lucifer might have felt God’s fall, but he did not witness it, and so, to him, it still felt like it was a bad dream.  He might have been angry with his Father, but he always wanted to be loved in His eyes.  He wanted to see his Father again.  And now…now he never would.  

“We couldn’t do anything,” Cassiel responded, shamefully.  “She…has an army now.  Of _our_ dead, Lucifer.”  He emphasized that last sentence, and watched the expression on his brother’s face transform from furious to confused. 

“What are you talking about?”  Michael interjected; he had been watching the two closely, listening to what they had to say.

“When angels die, they apparently return to the Darkness.  She has every single angel that has ever been killed under her control.  Including Raphael.”  Cas paused, waiting for an interruption, and then continuing when he got none.  “She stopped us from getting to Father in time.  But…I think he saw her winning and…let himself die.  As a sacrifice.  To close the gate to home permanently.”

Lucifer did not seem to like that explanation, because his expression once again turned angry, though Michael just appeared dismayed.  Like the other angels, the two felt a hopelessness without their Father.

“We can avenge him.  By putting Chaos back behind her door.” 

“Pray tell, Cassiel… _how_?”

“We…don’t know yet.  But we do know that we need your help.  _Both_ of you.”

Lucifer and Michael exchanged a glance.  While they still had their differences, almost 600 years spent in the pit in Hell together had cooled down some animosities.  They would still both say that they needed to engage in their final fight, but that final fight could wait until after this larger enemy was through. 

“This your idea?”  Lucifer asked, almost amusedly.     

“…Gabriel’s.”

Lucifer looked surprised; he didn’t feel that Gabriel was still alive.  He actually smiled a little after a moment, and chuckled.  Maybe his little brother learned some new tricks after all.  Or he just got incredibly lucky somehow.

“Nope.”

Suddenly, a third voice came from the shadows in the cage, and a young man stepped out.  He was once human, Cassiel could tell, and the angel felt a weird sort of familiarity with him, but couldn’t recall exactly who he was.  But this human’s soul, having endured so much torture from his angelic bunkmates, was now the blackened essence of a demon.  A very powerful demon.

A Knight of Hell.

The young man’s black eyes were narrowed, and Cassiel could feel and see the hate within them.  It made him uncomfortable, which was funny, in a way, considering he had been more relaxed speaking with the Devil himself.

“Adam.”  Michael said, almost as a warning.  The demon growled, turning towards the archangel.

“You know he’s with _them_.  Which means _they_ are going to be in on this,” he said, and Cas immediately knew that the young man was talking about the Winchesters.  “It is their fault I’m _still here_.”

“Oh come on Adam,” Lucifer said, teasingly.  “You should thank them, otherwise you wouldn’t be what you are now.”  Of course, the archangel didn’t mean that in a necessarily _good_ way; he hated demons and humans alike, still.  The Knight just glared at the Devil (which was something he wouldn’t even have dreamed of doing while his soul was still human).  

“Adam, this may be our only shot at getting out of here,” Michael said, calmly.  He was trying to be pragmatic; yes, everyone in there hated the Winchesters (though Adam probably did the most), but Michael would be willing to work with them if it meant getting out of Hell.  He couldn’t stand it in this place much longer.  He wanted to stretch his wings.  He wanted to go home.  “Plus, this enemy will destroy everything, us included, if we do not push her back.”

Adam thought for a moment before responding.  “Yeah, and how are they supposed to get us _out of here_ in the first place?  They can’t use the seals, and they don’t have the rings.”

“I have something better,” Cassiel quickly replied, pulling out the vial of his Father’s blood.  Michael and Lucifer knew immediately what was in there.  “As for vessels…you two will get new ones that Gabriel is working on with Ramiel and Raguel and Hannah.  And you…”  He thought for a moment, looking at the demon.  “Your body will be restored.”

“So, we won’t get our true vessels, still?”  Lucifer asked.  He had been looking forward to wearing Sam Winchester again, but he also knew that there was no way that the man would say yes to him now.  Still though, it would have been fun. 

“No, but hopefully with them all working on the new ones, these won’t break down, and you won’t have to share them with a human soul.”

The angels looked mildly satisfied with the answer, and turned to the demon.  Adam looked at Lucifer first, then back to Michael, and threw his hands in the air, admitting defeat.  “Fine,” he exclaimed, sounding exasperated.  “You guys are the bosses.”

With that, the two angels nodded in Cas’ direction, who began to paint the front bars of the cage with their Father’s blood.  There was just enough to soak each one.  Once he finished with that, Cassiel took a few steps back, standing next to Crowley, who had been watching and listening to everything, more than happy to remain silent throughout the conversation.  Cas then said an Enochian incantation, causing the blood to glow brightly.  The occupants of the cage all stood back as well, waiting. 

There was an explosion, and the front of the cage was destroyed.

Lucifer, Michael, and Adam each stepped out, taking a deep breath.  Even though they were still in Hell, they immediately felt free again. 

“Where to, little brother?”  

\-----

Sam and Dean had been dropped right in front of Donna’s place, and knocked on the door. 

“Jody?  Donna?  It’s us,” Sam said, loudly.  And even though they announced themselves, they were hit square in the face with holy water once the door opened. 

“Sorry,” Donna said.  “Can’t be too careful.”  She hurried them inside before looking around the front.  “Things have been kind of crazy whenever we go out, but we seem to be okay if we stay here at the house.”

The brothers looked at each other, remembering what Cas said about having put the house under a protection spell.  They were about to explain, before Jody appeared from another room, greeting them each with a friendly hug.  Despite the fact that she smiled, the sheriff looked worried. 

“Alright guys, spill.  What exactly is going on?  That storm wasn’t really a natural thing, was it?”  Donna too, looked concerned, and Jody continued.  “People have been going nuts around here and, hell, _everywhere_.  And every time we go out we run into some sort of monster or something and we gotta take care of it.  We haven’t let the girls go out, which is, you know, great to have to tell two teenagers.”  Both had been quite angry with their caretaker, saying things like ‘we can handle ourselves’ and having that stupid recklessness that teenagers often have.  But Jody was too concerned about them.  

“You guys might want to sit down.”  The four adults went into Donna’s dining room, so that the brothers could tell their friends about everything that had happened since they parted.  Little did they know, Claire and Alex were listening in from behind the wall of another room, and Claire paid special attention whenever Sam or Dean mentioned Castiel.  She had been wondering why he hadn’t been answering her prayers.  When she heard that his memories had been taken from him, her stomach twisted into a terrible knot, and she felt like she wanted to throw up. 

It was bad enough that her parents were gone, and now the universe decided to take Castiel from her too, right after she had forgiven him?

“Claire!”  Alex whispered for her friend after watching Claire storm off back to her temporary room. 

She made sure to shut the door quietly so no one could hear her, and Claire did what she always used to do when she was upset; she decided to run.  Jody and Donna and Alex were distracted enough thanks to Sam and Dean, and Claire could use that time to sneak out of the window in her room.  She made sure to grab her Grigori blade and backpack before almost silently climbing outside.  Luckily, Donna’s house was only one story, and her window was facing the backyard; she didn’t want anyone catching her.  She would come back…she just wanted to go somewhere to think.  There were too many people in the house right now.

Claire ran towards the road behind Donna’s house, hopping the fence around her yard and cutting through a neighbor’s lawn.  She knew that she could get into town easily; maybe a twenty minute or so walk.  She tightened her grip on her sword; after hearing what the Winchesters had to say about what was going on, she decided that she would hold it in her hand rather than hide it in her bag like usual.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t walking for long before someone stepped out in front of her. 

“That’s a nice sword you have there, missy,” the man said, with a gross-looking smirk.  Claire held it up, unafraid. 

“Yeah, I think so too,” she said.  She didn’t want to have to kill anyone, but if the man attacked her she had no qualms about defending herself with lethal force.

The two stared at each other for a moment before his eyes turned black and he charged at her.  He must have not realized what type of sword she was carrying, because he did not move when she plunged it through his stomach.  The demon’s eyes widened and its essence inside the man sparked a few times before fading.  He fell to the ground, dark red blood pouring from where the sword had been. 

As much as Claire wanted to continue on, this encounter gave her a bad feeling, and she decided to turn around.  Unfortunately, once she did, she saw that there were seven more demons behind her.  They were all smirking at her, eyeing her sword.  Sure, she believed that she could take on one or two with this thing, and maybe a third with the small amount of training that Dean and Sam had given her, but… _seven_? 

She ran.

She ran back in the direction of Donna’s, trying to not look behind.  But three of the four demons appeared in front of her, and she stopped short.  They circled her.

“Stay back!”  She yelled, though the nervousness in her voice betrayed the confident image she was trying to front.  The demons just laughed, ignoring her command.  She was thinking about how she could possibly get out of this alive; perhaps if she swung around in a circling motion, she could hit all of them.  She had holy water in a flask in her pocket, but she knew that once she made a move, they were going to be on her.

Unable to think of anything else which would get her out of here alive, she decided to call for help.

She prayed.

She prayed, despite knowing full well that the angel probably wouldn’t come because he couldn’t remember her anymore.    

‘ _Please, Castiel.  I need your help.’_

\-----

The prayer rang loud in Castiel’s head, and he stopped moving.  It was that girl.  That young woman for whom he felt responsible for.  That angry teenager who he sensed had been through so much in this lifetime already. 

“What’s wrong, Cas?  Legs stopped working?”  Crowley said, after noticing the angel’s stationary positioning.

“You go on ahead.”  Cassiel then telepathically relayed the location of the sanctuary to Lucifer and Michael, telling them that their vessels would be there and he would meet up with them later.  They all knew that Adam couldn’t follow into Heaven; the Knight would need to stay with the King for the time being.

“Wait, where are you going?”

But Cassiel disappeared, flying out of Hell as fast as he could, slashing through demons like they were nothing.  He had to get to her.  He had to protect her…that young woman with the damaged yet still bright soul.  The human girl with grace still inside of her…

His wings took him to a small town in Minnesota, where demons surrounded the young woman.  He landed in front of her, careful to avoid her pointed blade.  He grabbed the girl and turned her face into him, so she wouldn’t see the bright light that came from his other raised palm.  The light obliterated the seven monsters.

Once the light dissipated, the young woman pulled back from Cas, staring up at him.

“Why…why did you answer?  I know you don’t remember who I am.  And I’ve been praying to you every day for weeks!  Why now?”

She was too distraught to give him a real thank you, but Cas knew regardless that she was appreciative.  She was just…troubled.

“This sounded urgent.  And I…I feel a need to protect you.”

“Right, sure,” she responded sarcastically.  “That’s why you _haven’t_ helped us?”

“I put your house under protection.”

“What?”  Claire stared at him, taken aback.  “Why?” 

“I just told you.  I feel a need to protect you.  I don’t…exactly know why.  I assume…we have history,” he said, using the phrase that Dean had used on him. 

“That’s an understatement,” the young woman replied with an almost bitter laugh. 

“A story for another time, then, I hope,” he said, giving her a smile.  He felt this paternal instinct when he looked at her, and wanted her to be happy.  He also wanted to know what this history of theirs was, but as much as he wanted to know that, he knew he had to get back to the sanctuary.  Hopefully Michael and Lucifer made it there with no problems.  “For now, I should get you back.”

“Wait,” she said, as he was lifting his hand.  She then hugged him tightly, and whispered, “thank you.”  He hesitated at first, but his emotions tugged at him, and he returned her hug, gently wrapping his arms around her.

“Please.  Be more careful.  I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to you next time.”

“Sure, sure,” she said, bringing her arms back to her side and taking a step back from him.  She was smiling.

And her smiling face was the last thing that Castiel saw before he teleported her back to her room in Donna’s house.

No one even knew she had gone.

Good.


	15. Under Pressure

Cassiel’s brothers and sisters were not pleased with him when he made his way back into heaven’s sanctuary.  The two freshly constructed vessels were floating in God’s pool, glowing; apparently Lucifer and Michael had arrived and possessed the empty shells, but needed to stay in the pool to get acclimated to them.  The archangels still feared that their work wasn’t good enough, and that both vessels would explode if their newly freed brothers did not adjust properly.  The water was not as powerful without their Father’s presence, but it still did its job, for the most part. 

“Where were you?”  Raguel demanded, when Cassiel arrived after Lucifer and Michael.  The seventh archangel’s eyes darted to the floor. 

“That girl…Claire.  She needed help.  She prayed-”

Raguel turned to Gabriel, ignoring her younger brother for a moment.  “I thought Father taking away his memories was supposed to _stop_ this?”  She sighed, and looked once again at Cas.  “This isn’t about one or two humans, Cassiel.  This is about _all_ of humanity.  And all of _existence_.  How many times must we try to explain this to you?”

Gabriel looked sympathetically towards Cas; he understood the other angel’s plight, for Gabriel had friends amongst humanity and amongst the pagan gods.  There were plenty whom he would have liked to protect, but the bigger picture was on his mind.  Then again, he was never quite pulled towards one specific person the way Castiel was drawn to the Winchesters and to Claire Novak.  Not even to Kali.

There was a deep love that Castiel had for those people that transcended what the angels could normally feel.  Gabriel thought that God’s removal of his memories would help them, but all it seemed to do was confuse his little brother because of the emotions and the love that remained.  Truthfully, if Gabriel knew this was going to be the result, he would have asked their Father not to manipulate Cassiel’s mind.

But it was too late now; Cas was never going to regain those memories.

“She’s right, Cassiel,” he said, solemnly.  “We need you here.  We’re lucky that Michael and Lucifer made it without you to guide them back, and that Chaos didn’t get to you.”  He was being serious, which made Cas shift his feet a little, almost ashamedly.  Going to Earth now as an angel was dangerous; Chaos could pinpoint their location easily due to their light. 

Logically, everything that Raguel and Gabriel were saying made sense.  And in his head, Cassiel knew that now was not the opportune time to explore these feelings that he had towards those specific human beings.

But he recalled the hug that Claire gave him when he helped her, and how he felt glad that she was safe.

He recalled how frightened he was when he saw Sam step out of the Impala right before the battle against the Darkness.

And he recalled the fluttering in his chest and the warmth he felt when he pressed his lips to Dean’s…

They were all feelings he couldn’t ignore, try as he might.

Just as he was going to reply to Gabriel’s comment, a blinding light flashed from the two vessels.  The five angels on land shielded their eyes. 

Michael and Lucifer burst out of the pool, soaring into the air.  The each stretched their six wings – Michael’s three pairs of pure white dwarfed his siblings’, who stared at them in wonder.  Even now, their leader’s power was phenomenal, and the angels immediately felt their morale boost when they saw him. 

And Lucifer…despite being in hell for so long, Lucifer was as beautiful as ever.  His wings might have been smaller than Michael’s, but they glowed softly, with patterns of red, purple, and deep orange in his feathers which mirrored the sunset.

The two brothers, who normally would be at war, flew together through the sky.  It was a sight to behold, really, as the first two archangels glided in the air.  They weaved back and forth, stretching their wings, which had been cramped up in the cage for too long. 

“Alright guys, we get it!”  Gabriel shouted to them after a few minutes.  “Now will you get back down here?”

The pair dove – almost racing each other – towards the ground.  Despite their speed, they pulled up to land softly on their feet.  Their vessels looked intact; Michael’s took the appearance of a young John Winchester, while Lucifer’s mimicked Nick. 

And the two were _smiling_. 

“Geez, Dad wouldn’t believe this even if He were here to see it,” Gabriel mentioned, laughing.  However, that comment made Lucifer and Michael’s smiles disappear, replaced with angry expressions. 

“We need to put her back behind the door,” Michael stated, and for once, Lucifer agreed with him. 

“How, though?”  Ramiel walked over with Raguel and Hannah, and the six archangels and one seraph stood in a circle.  “Last time, Father was here, and He was the one to actually trap her.”

“Plus, she didn’t have an entire army of our dead at her disposal,” Raguel added, crossing her arms.  The two sisters didn’t want to be so negative, but they just did not have any ideas, and were still somewhat discouraged due to the death of God.  “She’s more powerful now, and we’re weaker.” 

The seven stood in silence for some time, each trying to think of a plan.  They remembered their Father trapping Chaos – after they had sufficiently weakened her He surrounded her with His overwhelming light and practically suffocated her, trapping her behind the door, away from this universe.  He then created the mark as the key to said door, entrusting it to Lucifer.  But even if all seven archangels were around, their combined light could not compare to their Father’s.  He was order and morality personified; they were His servants only.  No light could ever compare to His.  Plus, not all of them were as bright and pure as they once were; Lucifer was a mixture of His Father’s light and Chaos’ Darkness, and Cassiel was something no one could really pinpoint.

“Is there…”  Cas then said, breaking the silence.  “Is there a way we could reduce her army?  To get rid of the dark angels?”

“Well, fighting them does nothing, judging from how they just kind of went back to Chaos when they were defeated,” Gabriel replied.  “Guess we can’t just kill them.”

“Look, they were all our dead.  Maybe we can resurrect them.  Bring back their lights.”

Castiel’s six siblings stared incredulously at him. 

“How are we supposed to do that?  We don’t have the power to resurrect one of our own!”  Raguel exclaimed.

“Individually, no, we don’t.  But together maybe…”  Cas trailed off, looking hopeful towards the rest of the group.          

“Enough to bring back _all_ of them?  I doubt it.”

“You have a better idea, Raguel?”  Cassiel narrowed his eyes; at least he _had_ an idea.  He didn’t appreciate his sister shooting it down without some alternative proposal in hand.  He was satisfied when she fell silent.  

“Is there a way we could separate one of them?  They seem to disintegrate back into her when they are defeated, but until then, are distinct from her…like they have their own bodies,” Hannah said, thinking out loud.  There was a pensive look on her face, as she was trying to figure out a way to put her brother’s plan into action.  “Can we get one away from her?  Bring him or her somewhere safe so we could solve this issue rather than just guessing about it?”

“You mean like… _possess_ them?”  Gabriel asked, looking for clarification.

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  I don’t even know if that is possible, really.”

“Doubtful,” Ramiel said, sighing.  “Their essences are pure darkness; our light would overwhelm them, most likely.  They would just retreat back to her.”

The seven fell silent again, before Cassiel looked over at Lucifer.  “What if one of us had Chaos’ Darkness, though?”  He took a step towards his older brother.  “Lucifer, she always said that you-”

“Had darkness in me, I know,” he interrupted.  “You’re thinking-”

“ _You_ might be able to get a hold of one of our brothers or sisters.  Your essence might not overwhelm them.  Then, if that works, we can figure out the rest from there.”  The actual resurrection part was something that none of them had figured out yet, but they weren’t even sure if this plan was going to work anyway.  It was a long-shot, but right now, was the only shot they felt they could take.  With her large army, there was no way they would be able to isolate her.    

The rest of the group looked at Lucifer.  It was obvious that they didn’t trust him completely, but none of them could think of a better plan than Cassiel’s. 

“Well,” Lucifer said, smirking a little.  “This ought to be interesting.”

\-----

Although Dean wasn’t too excited when he saw Crowley calling his cell phone, he picked up, wondering if the King of Hell had any new information about breaking Michael and Lucifer out of the cage.  He and Sam had gotten on the road again, not wanting to stay too close to Jody and the others.  The brothers were afraid that their involvement with the angels would put their friends in danger, so they really did not want to stay with them for too long.  The Impala was still back in Kansas, so they were headed in that direction with a rental car; Dean didn’t want to be without his baby for much longer.

“Crowley.  Any news?”

“Yeah, where are you?”

“Headed on I-35 South, just passing the intersection with Route 20-”

“Hello boys,” the demon said, appearing in the back seat.  Only thing was…he wasn’t alone.

“…Adam?”  Sam looked in the back seat to see their half-brother.

“Heya, Sammy,” Adam replied with a fake smile on his face.  He flashed his eyes black, causing Sam to jump a little.  “Relax.  Not going to do anything to you guys.  At least, not until this whole mess is over.”

“Adam, we-”

“Forgot about me?  Yeah, I figured.  Left me in that cage with those two for what…600, 700 years?  I lost count.  It’s hard to keep track when you’re constantly being tortured.  Luckily, it got boring for them after I turned.”

“Yeah, you two bozos pretty much made a new Knight of Hell.  Congrats,” Crowley mockingly said, slowly applauding the two Winchesters. 

“I remember you down in there with me, Sam.  But Death got you out and left me.  Which was _awesome_ to watch, by the way.  Gotta say, that Zachariah was a real dick, but at least he didn’t lie to me when it came to you two.”  Adam still remembered how the angel warned him about the brothers – how their codependency would get him killed.  In reality, it did much worse than that.       

“Adam, Death only let me save one of you and-” Dean started, as if trying to explain why he left his half-brother stranded in Hell. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know.  _Sammy_ comes first.  But Dean,” the Knight said, leaning forward and in between the two front seats.  “You could’ve _tried_ a little more, you know?  But I’m not Sam, so…you know, who cares.  Heard you guys like doing that.  Getting people who are close to you killed.  Glad to know I’m not the only one who’s gotten screwed over by you two.”

Sam and Dean exchanged a nervous look.  They knew they were guilty of leaving Adam to rot in the cage, so they had no real rebuttals to anything the demon was arguing.  They recalled how Adam was – Adam, who only wanted to see his mother again after the angels resurrected him.  Who ended up an unappreciated and unacknowledged sacrifice in the effort to trap Lucifer back in the cage.  Adam had every right to be furious with them. 

It just sucked that he was a _Knight of freakin’ Hell_ now.

“So, yeah, updates: Lucifer and Michael are also out of the cage and went up to Heaven.  Haven’t seen them since,” Crowley said, breaking the tension. 

“And Cas?  Have you seen Cas?”

“Your boyfriend is fine, Squirrel.  At least, last I saw him.  He left before the other two, for some reason.”

That, of course, made Dean apprehensive; why didn’t Cas leave _with_ Michael and Lucifer?  Then again, maybe it was for the better, maybe Cas left early because he was afraid of what those two assholes would do to him if he was alone with them.  But wasn’t he more on their level now, being an archangel and all? 

So many questions Dean had; he hoped that his angel was okay.

It was around another hour or so before he had to stop for gas, and Dean made sure he chose a station that was in the middle of nowhere.  As they were getting closer to Lebanon, the sky had been getting even darker; Chaos must have still been in the area.  Was she still trying to figure out a way into heaven using the door in the sandbox?

As Dean went inside the convenience store to get some snacks, Sam pumped gas into the car.  Adam and Crowley remained in the back seat.  Unfortunately, when Dean went to pay, there was no one behind the counter.  Not even a body to tell him that something had happened. 

“Hello?”  He called out, hoping to get anyone’s attention, but received no answer.  It gave him a bad feeling, and he began to walk out the door. 

He was stopped. 

“Shit-” Dean dropped the snacks and pulled out his gun when three of Chaos’ angels walked through the door.  He heard Sam call out for him, but the three enemies blocked his path.  He only recognized the one in the middle: Naomi.  Wasn’t she already killed in the battle…?

The angels said nothing as they approached him, their dark hollow eyes showing no emotion.  Although Dean knew it was going to be futile, he shot at them, hitting all three but failing to even slow them down. 

Outside, Adam and Crowley – who had gotten out of the car when they saw the angels appear – stood with Sam against another trio.  Adam’s eyes were black, and he force pushed one of the angels, throwing her into a nearby tree.  He charged after her, but she used her wings to levitate into the air and away from him; she began to throw dark blades in his direction, but he dodged every single one of them, practically gleeful.  The demon’s strength and speed were directly related to his being a Knight of Hell.  Not only that, but Lucifer and Michael were the ones who personally turned him, so the archangels’ power seemed almost reflected now in Adam.  

Sam, meanwhile, was trying to get past the remaining two dark angels in order to get to his brother inside the store.  Crowley took one on, getting him away from the younger Winchester.  Unfortunately, Sam’s bullets did nothing to the remaining creature.  He wished that they had the Impala back; at least he then could try a Molotov with holy fire to see if that would work.  But he had none of their usual equipment right now.  He watched as the angel conjured some dark blades, and threw them in his direction.

Sam braced for the impact, which never came.   

“Miss me, Sam?”

A familiar voice.  A voice that Sam heard still sometimes in nightmares.  A voice that haunted him for so long.  A voice he never wanted to hear again.

“Lucifer.”

The fallen angel smiled at him; Lucifer had stopped the blades before they hit his true vessel, and threw them to the side.  He stepped in between Sam and his dead brother; it was almost a protective move, but Sam knew that Lucifer would only “protect” him because of what he was for the archangel.

The resulting carnage was swift and brutal; Lucifer snapped his fingers and the three dark angels all exploded.  They turned into a dark haze, which retreated into the sky.  Sam then watched as a blinding light came from the store; Dean emerged with Castiel and Michael. 

“You two should get out of here.  Chaos is going to be on her way,” Cas said once the two groups converged.  He was looking around, almost nervously; he didn’t want Chaos to show up while the two humans were still around. 

“I’m not leaving here without you,” Dean responded immediately.  He wasn’t comfortable with the idea of leaving Cas here alone with Michael and Lucifer and soon Chaos. 

“Dean…” Cas sighed.  “Please, you need to go.  Chaos will-”

“Too late,” Michael then interrupted, pointing towards the sky.  That dark smoke was getting heavier and heavier; the goddess was headed in their direction.  Cas turned to the brothers and put his palms on their heads.  “Please, don’t try to find us.”

And he teleported the two of them out of there.

“Morningstar.”  The three angels and two demons looked around after hearing Chaos’ voice.  She almost _sang_ Lucifer’s title, excited to see the fallen angel again.  She showed herself, standing on a black cloud in the sky.  Her Darkness swirled around her; she seemed even more powerful and terrifying now than she had been during the battle at heaven’s door.  Her face showed nothing short of absolute delight.  “And the _Commander_.  Oh, it has been so _long_.”  She descended, stepping off her cloud and onto the pavement. 

“Chaos,” Michael said through gritted teeth.  She curtsied. 

“I didn’t think they would bail you out of your prison cell, but I am so _glad_ that they did,” Chaos expressed, staring at Lucifer.  The goddess always believed that the fallen angel belonged to her, rather than to God, and his expulsion from heaven supported that theory.  “My dear Morningstar…I am surprised that you are fighting with your brothers and sisters of light, however.”

“You know why,” he replied coldly.

“Ah, yes.  Yahweh.  My dear, you know that Yahweh cannot exist in my universe.  And neither can many of your siblings.  But… _you_ , on the other hand…”  She took a few steps toward him, outstretching her arm so her hand touched his cold cheek.  “You belong in my world, Lucifer.  You always have.”

Cassiel and Michael together held up their palms, creating an overwhelming light which blinded Chaos.  She stepped back into her cloud, sighing. 

“Very well, I suppose I’ll play.”

A number of dark angels appeared, and Lucifer spotted the one he was to possess: Balthazar.  Cassiel and Michael flew into the air, wanting to draw as many away from their brother as possible.  Cassiel’s light spear materialized in his hand, and he parried a blow from Chaos’ Darkness.  Michael dodged dark blades left and right, taunting the goddess. 

“You’ve gotten slower from your time behind the door!”  He laughed, spiraling away from her.  Her attention fixated on the first archangel, while Cassiel slashed at one of her minions, causing him to dissipate back into her shadows. 

“Crowley, Adam!”  He landed again in front of the demons, who were standing back to back, ready for anything.  “We need to draw as many of them away from Lucifer except for him,” he said, pointing at Balthazar.  Before he could explain, another five angels were headed in their direction, and Cas jumped back up in the air to pull two of them, leaving the demons to deal with the other three. 

“Heh, this shouldn’t be too hard,” Adam said, while grinning.  The Knight of Hell quickly ducked out of the way of one of the dark angel’s weapons, and plunged his hand through the creature’s chest.  It faded back into the Darkness, while Crowley armed himself with his own angel blade that he stole some time ago.  The King might not look like a warrior type, but was more than able to hold his own.  Plus, he had his two trump cards.

His hounds appeared out of nowhere; each chomped down hard on an angel’s arm, pulling apart so that the enemy split into two.  Crowley had plunged his blade into the neck of the third one, and then looked up to watch Cassiel smite the two monsters who had followed him into the air. 

Lucifer’s eyes remained on Balthazar.  The fallen archangel watched carefully as the other charged him.  After easily evading an attack, Lucifer force stopped Balthazar, who only tried to fight – unsuccessfully – against the hold.  With his other hand, Lucifer opened Balthazar’s mouth; he left his vessel in order to possess the dark angel.

“What are you-” Chaos suddenly felt Lucifer’s presence inside one of her creatures, and cursed when she failed to return Balthazar to her.  She turned her attention to him, but Michael flew in between her and his younger brother, flashing a blinding light from his palm. 

“Let’s go, now!”  The commander cried out, calling after Cassiel.  Lucifer, still holding onto Balthazar from inside the latter’s body, grabbed his now empty vessel and flew off, back to the sanctuary.  Cassiel told the two demons on the ground to get out of there, and the both of them disappeared; beings of darkness such as themselves would be more difficult for Chaos to find. 

But then, Cassiel felt a sharp pain in his stomach; as he had been telling Adam and Crowley to go, Chaos took advantage of his inattention.  She plunged a dark blade through his body, pulling it out only to fling him across the area and into the roof of the convenience store.  He crashed hard, falling through the building. 

His stomach was bleeding profusely; a mixture of blood and grace was flowing from the wound, and he tried to heal it with his shaking hand.  Unfortunately, his healing abilities were not so strong on these types of dark injuries, and it remained open.  Cas tried to stand, but stumbled and fell, his face crashing onto the floor below.  He could feel the Darkness from the blade trying to corrupt his light inside, and the world around him began to dim.

No.  No, he couldn’t go out like this. 

He imagined Dean Winchester. 

He had to get back to him.  He had to protect him. 

Once again, Cassiel tried to stand, using his wings to pull himself up, but was ultimately unsuccessful when he once again fell on his face.  He began to crawl, but the darkness in his vision became greater and greater. 

The last thing he saw before he passed out was a pair of boots, and a man whose face he could not entirely see.

“Cas!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that there might not be an update until next week, since I'm headed to Baltimore from Thursday-Sunday for Otakon! I might write something before then, but I wanted to put up this note just in case!


	16. In Your Eyes

_Fire and pain swirled around Castiel as he plunged further down into the depths of hell.  His host had suffered many casualties, but the commander pressed on.  He remembered his mission; the angel would not stop until he found what – or rather,_ who _– he was searching for.  Even as the flames singed his feathered wings and demons attacked him from all angles, Castiel persisted.  He would smite every single abomination in this land before giving in to despair and hopelessness._

_It would be years before he would find it: the brightest soul he had ever seen.  Despite the taint of suffering and darkness which enveloped it, the damaged soul was beautiful and blinding.  Castiel dove towards it, his wings finding strength and carrying him faster than they had in quite some time._

_And he saw green eyes pleading for help._

Who…?

 _The scene seemed to change around him, but those green eyes remained, still pleading.  Begging him to fall, to rebel, to_ help _.  And Castiel wanted to.  He wanted to do whatever the man with the green eyes and bright soul asked.  But he was afraid.  He was afraid of falling like Lucifer did.  He was afraid of heaven’s wrath._

_But in the end, he was mostly afraid of the disappointment that was reflected in those eyes when he hesitated._

_It wouldn’t be the only time he caused those eyes to look so sad._

_Castiel suddenly stood in a ring of holy fire.  Three men surrounded him, demanding explanations, and the angel responded with answers that he knew would not satisfy them.  They didn’t_ understand _.  Why couldn’t they understand?  Why didn’t they trust him?  Were they not friends?  Were they not_ family _?_

_He watched the man with the green eyes.  They exchanged one last look; one that silently said a thousand words.  Those green orbs were angry, but behind that anger were feelings of betrayal.  And ultimately, sadness._

_And Castiel hated himself a little bit for causing such pain to such beautiful eyes._

_He decided to remain in the land of abominations in order to atone for his sins; for being the reason behind the green-eyed man’s suffering._

_Despite his trying to stay away, the man found him.  He looked so_ happy _, for once.  That bright soul he pulled from hell had gone through so much, and had so much pain, and yet the man was_ happy _…Castiel’s heart couldn’t help but flutter when the man hugged him tightly._

_Yet it also ached, for Castiel would once again see disappointment in those green eyes when he refused to leave with them._

_He heard a woman – one of his sisters – telling him to end this.  And every time she gave him an order, another punch was thrown.  The green-eyed man was kneeling in front of him, blood smeared all over his beautiful face.  Castiel screamed at himself to stop, but threw another punch.  And another.  And another.  And the man said his name._

_His angel blade shone, its point directed towards the man as Castiel raised it.  He couldn’t break free of his sister’s control._ No _, he begged himself.  Those green eyes stared up at him, and the man spoke._

“We’re family.  We need you.  I need you.”

_The blade dropped from his hand._

_Their positions switched._

_Green eyes looked down at him, but they weren’t the eyes that Castiel loved so much.  They were angry.  They were corrupted.  They were dead, almost.  Castiel tasted blood in his mouth; he refused to raise a hand to defend himself against the man’s assault.  No.  He did not want to hurt him anymore.  Not again._

_He watched the man grab his angel blade from his sleeve, and raise it.  Castiel raised his hand to clutch at the other’s arm._

“…please…”

What was the man’s name?  Why couldn’t Castiel remember?

_Life flashed in those green eyes, and Castiel could see the struggle behind them.  The man was fighting against the taint that flowed through him; against the darkness that screamed at him to kill the angel._

_The blade slammed down, and Castiel turned his head to see it impaled on a book next to him._

“Next time I won’t miss.”

_Those words hurt Castiel more than any of the man’s punches._

Who are you…?

\-----

Cassiel’s eyes shot open and he saw white above him. 

Heaven.  He was in heaven.

He moved very suddenly and felt a sharp pain in his stomach.  Right…the memories of what Chaos did flooded back to him, and he looked down at where the wound had been.  The archangel was floating in the sanctuary’s pool, which had closed him up and left an ugly scar, but some of the pain remained. 

“Cas!”

That voice…it was the same voice that called his name right before he passed out.  Cassiel looked over to the edge of the water, and saw someone dive in, creating a large splash.  The man swam over as fast as his legs would carry him, while Cassiel remained where he was, floating.  Only Gabriel remained at the edge of the water; his brothers and sisters must have been elsewhere trying to figure out what to do with the captured Balthazar.  He was surprised when Gabriel did not fly over to grab the human and pull him from the pool. 

The man pulled up, making sure he did not crash into the angel.  He kept kicking his legs so that his head and shoulders remained suspended above the water.

He had those eyes.  Those green eyes that Cassiel had seen in his dreams.

“Dean…?”

That was the man’s name.  Dean Winchester.  The man that Cassiel had felt compelled to kiss and protect for reasons he could not remember.  

He couldn’t recall everything he saw when he was unconscious, but he did recall those eyes.  And the archangel felt some shame, for he remembered how disappointed and sad those eyes normally looked.  And Cassiel remembered how _he himself_ was responsible for such sadness more than a few times.

But not right now.

Right now, those eyes shone with relief and happiness.

“Cas, fuck, don’t ever scare me like that again,” the human said, smiling wide. 

“Alright.  I’m sorry,” Cassiel replied, not entirely sure why he was apologizing.  After all, it wasn’t as if he _wanted_ Chaos to stab him through the stomach and almost kill him.  But the words just came out of his mouth, as if they were an automatic reaction to the other’s statement.  “What are you doing here, Dean?”

“You didn’t exactly send us far, Cas.  Though I do appreciate you bringing us back to my baby.”  Cassiel tilted his head, and then remembered: he had sent the Winchesters away to the first landmark he could think of, which was the Impala.  Which, as Dean said, hadn’t been too far away from where Cas and Chaos were.  (Cassiel cursed himself for being unable to think of somewhere else during that panicked moment.)  “Gabriel came down when Sam prayed to him for help and he and Michael dragged our collective asses out of dodge.”

“I thought I told you not to come find us,” Cas said, somewhat angrily.  “What if something happened to you and Sam?”

“Well, nothing did.  But something _did_ happen to you,” Dean responded, almost exasperated.  “Cas, look, I’m not going to apologize for coming to find you.”

The vision of the green-eyed man hugging Castiel in the land of abominations flashed in Cassiel’s mind. 

The angel sighed.  “Where is everyone?”  He wanted to change the subject, feeling confused about the things he kept seeing and the warring emotions that raged within him whenever he looked at Dean.

“Some…I don’t know.  Cabin, or something.  I wasn’t really listening.”  Dean had been too distracted, focusing intensely on the unconscious archangel in the water while everyone around him spoke.  “Gabriel could tell you more,” he said, pointing over at the golden-winged archangel, who was still waiting patiently. 

“Father’s cabin, yes.  We should join them.”  Cassiel spread his wings and was about to fly out of the pool, when the pain in his stomach caused him to cringe and fold his wings back up. 

“Woah, woah, easy there.  You’re still hurt somewhat.  Let’s just take the old fashioned way back.”  And the human put one of Cassiel’s arms over his shoulders and began to swim.  The archangel felt that weird flutter in his heart again, and couldn’t help but smile a little. 

“Glad to see you’re alive, bro,” Gabriel greeted them when the two approached the edge of the pool.  He extended his hand to Cassiel, who took it for some extra help getting out of the water. 

“Glad to _be_ alive,” the younger angel responded with a smile. 

“Everyone’s back at Dad’s cabin; we figured that we could keep Balthazar there until we figured out what the hell we’re supposed to do to revive him.”  Gabriel’s voice became somber.  “No one’s been able to really think of much.”  He began to walk, beckoning Cassiel and Dean to follow him.  “We have some ideas but…you’re not going to like them very much.”

“Why?”

“Most involve the use of souls,” Gabriel answered.  He was right – Cassiel didn’t like that idea at all, judging from the angered expression which showed on his face.  “I know, I know.  We’re supposed to protect them.  But souls have great power, Cas.  It might be the only way.” 

“Wait, what would happen to them?”  Dean inquired, also not enjoying where this conversation was headed. 

“They’d probably end up destroyed in the process of bringing back the angel’s light.”  The golden-winged archangel sighed; the judgment he was receiving from both the human and his younger brother was making him very uncomfortable.  “Look, I’m on your guys’ side, alright?”  He threw his hands up in front of his chest.  “I said no.  But we’re having some…democratic issues, I guess.  Michael, Lucifer, and Raguel all said we should try it.  Ramiel, Hannah, and I are against.  We kind of need our tiebreaker, though I told them I already knew how you’d vote.  Then of course, Lucifer said Hannah doesn’t count because she’s only a seraph, and Michael claimed that his opinion should be the only one that matters since he was our commander, and well…things got ugly.  Names were thrown around, feelings hurt…you know.  Democracy.  Everyone took some time to cool off, I think.”  Gabriel paused.  “But…right now it _is_ the only idea we have, Cas.  Unless you could think of something?” 

There was silence for a few minutes as they walked. 

“Are there any human spells for resurrection?”  Cassiel asked, to no one in particular.  “Perhaps we can modify a human spell to try and make it applicable to one of us.”

“There might be one in the Book of the Damned, but…I wouldn’t recommend using that, Cas,” Dean responded, seriously.  “It was calling out to me when I had the mark.  I doubt that it was meant for angels to use.  It seems like something the Darkness would prefer.”

Cassiel looked somewhat discouraged, but Dean was probably correct.  Still though, it was a possible idea.

“Besides,” Dean continued.  “That witch still has the book.  I doubt we’ll be able to find her all that easily.”

\-----

Rowena stood outside an old abandoned library.  For some reason, the Book of the Damned had compelled her here; she felt a great presence surrounding the building.  A presence that the book yearned for.  Despite the smoky darkness which was all around the area, the witch was not afraid; in fact, she felt almost _welcome_ here. 

Holding onto the book, she walked inside.  There was nothing too spectacular about the place, really.  It was dusty and cluttered, with flickering lights here and there.  If she was anyone else, she would have been a little bit spooked.  But Rowena just smiled as she made her way through the different stacks of tomes. 

In one of the aisles she spotted a man.  He was haggard-looking and hunched over a book, and jumped when he saw her.

“Who are you?”  He seemed more startled than frightened.  As Rowena was about to respond, she heard a woman’s voice.

“Relax, scribe.”  Rowena saw a cloud of darkness congregate next to the man, and from it, an auburn-haired lady stepped out.  Already, Rowena could feel the woman’s power, but she still did not see her as a threat, for some reason.  Perhaps it was because of the book, which seemed to almost be pulsating, as if it was _eager_ to be in the other’s presence.  This woman was obviously who the book had wanted Rowena to come find.  “I invited her here.”

“And you are?”  Rowena asked, not unkindly.

The woman curtsied.  “You may call me Chaos, dear witch.  I am what you see all around you,” she said, while gesturing to the black essence surrounding them.  “I’ve wanted to meet the current keeper of the book for some time now.  I am pleased to see it in the hands of such a powerful agent of magic.”

Rowena couldn’t help but smile from Chaos’ flattery, but the goddess’ interest in the book that she had wanted to acquire for so long made her suspicious.  “You’re not suspecting I’ll just give it to you, now do you?” 

Chaos laughed.  “Goodness, no!  I want you to have it.  Besides, everything that is in that book, I already know.  I was, after all, the one who gave Sister Agnes her visions.”  Rowena looked taken aback and surprised, and Chaos continued.  “I might not have been able to push through the door entirely, but I was able to leak a little through the cracks.  Enough to get into the sister’s mind and tell her how to undo the curse that imprisoned me.  Sad, what they did to her.”  Of course, Chaos knew what had happened to Sister Agnes.  “Her power was incredible.  Under Yahweh’s order, there was no way she could flourish.  But Yahweh is no more.  And you are here, and I must say, you are greater than Agnes ever was, Rowena.” 

The witch looked a little surprised, and despite how far-fetched some of the things the other was saying seemed, she believed all of them.  After all, Rowena had seen a lot of seemingly implausible things in her long lifetime.  What’s so impossible about some _more_ seemingly implausible things? 

“Under my watch, you will _flourish_.  You will not just survive.  No one will question your prowess, and creatures all across this earth and beyond will know and fear you.  And, I could give to you even more power than what is in that little book there.  All I ask is for one thing.”

“Ah, and there is the catch,” Rowena said, sighing.  Chaos shook her head, however.

“Not a catch.  You are free to say no, of course.  I would not be the essence of pure freedom if I indentured people into my servitude, as I told the scribe.”  The goddess turned to Metatron and held out her hand.  The former angel pulled out a tablet, with writing that Rowena could neither recognize nor read.  Chaos took it, and it seemed to absorb her wandering darkness when she touched it.  “I would like for you to perform a spell that is written on this tablet.  One that will allow you to control demons.”

Rowena took a minute to absorb what the goddess just said, and then smirked.  “Control demons, you say?  _Any_ demon?”

Chaos smiled.

“Yes.  Including your son.”      


	17. Straight to Hell

By the time Cas, Dean, and Gabriel approached the cabin, it appeared as though all the other angels had returned from their cooling off session.  To Dean, the little building was quite unremarkable, really, especially for being where God Himself apparently stayed in Heaven.  It just looked like a regular cozy cabin.

Inside, it opened up somewhat, but it still wasn’t the big thing that Dean had expected it to be.  Then again, there was not much he knew about God as…well, God.  He knew Chuck, sure, but it was still hard to wrap his head around the fact that Chuck and God were one in the same.  Not that it really mattered now that the guy was gone.

Once Sam saw him walk in, the younger Winchester moved from his spot in the corner to stand beside his brother and the two archangels. 

“Things seem calmer now than before,” Sam informed them, gesturing over to the group with a nod of his head.  They were all standing around a captured dark Balthazar, who stood in a ring of fire – holy fire, Dean speculated, though Heaven’s environment made the fires appear a bright blue rather than the orange-red that the hunter was used to seeing.  The dark angel just stood there, almost lifeless, his hollow eyes looking at nothing in particular.  “Without Chaos here to…power him, so to say, it’s like he has no batteries,” Sam explained before Dean could ask.

“Cassiel!” Ramiel turned and saw her younger brother with Gabriel.  Her face lit up, and while she wanted to hug him, she had a feeling he would still be in some pain; that relatively short amount of time in the pool was not enough to completely rid him of his wound’s damaging effects.  So instead, she just bowed her head in courtesy.  “I’m glad to see you’re alright.”

“You really worried us there, you know,” Hannah said, also smiling. 

“Good, you’re awake,” Michael remarked, as Cas smiled at his sisters and walked over to stand with everyone around Balthazar.  Gabriel and their human guests followed.  “Now we have our tie breaker.”

“I already heard the plan about the souls, and my vote is _no_ , Michael,” Cas sternly said, his eyes narrowing.  The first archangel didn’t look too pleased with that answer, unfortunately.  

“Cassiel, you know this might be the _only_ way.  Souls have powers that we haven’t even discovered!  Without Father, how are we supposed to defeat Chaos without making some sacrifices?”  Michael’s voice had gotten a little louder, but even that small increase in volume felt booming to Sam and Dean’s ears.

“Hey, back off, he said no!”  Dean stepped in, protectively.  He didn’t like where this was headed, and didn’t want to see Cas hurt again.  His emotional need to make sure his friend was okay trumped the logical argument that the angels were not going to turn on each other so quickly over this disagreement.  They were too desperate to do something so reckless and stupid to each other.  Still though, Dean didn’t like Michael, and _especially_ didn’t like him yelling at Castiel like that.

“You have no place in this, Dean,” Michael retorted, making himself look bigger by spreading his wings a little bit.  It was meant to be somewhat intimidating, but Dean had tangled too many times with angels to be even remotely scared of them.  He just stared angrily at the archangel before smirking.

“What, you think fluffing your feathers a little is going to get rid of me?”

“Enough of this!”  Raguel stepped in between the two.  “This gets us nowhere.  We know Cassiel’s vote.  It is four-to-three against, but Ramiel and I may have come up with a few possible compromises.”

“Let’s hear ‘em then,” Gabriel said, impatiently. 

“Look, we can’t figure out how to revive these angels without using souls.  It is, right now, our _only_ possible option.  Instead of just taking souls, we can work our way to the individual heavens and _ask._   Only take volunteers.”  Ramiel looked around, gauging the reactions on her brother’s and sister’s faces.  “We explain the risks to them, and they must agree before we use that soul.”

“Who in their right mind is going to give up paradise to try and revive an angel?”  Gabriel asked doubtingly. 

“Humans give up their lives all the time on Earth for noble causes without knowing what awaits them afterward.  We figured this idea would play on that, on their sense of justice and the nobility of sacrifice.  Remember that if Chaos gets into heaven, _all_ of those souls are doomed, not just us,” Ramiel explained patiently.   

When the others still looked skeptical, Raguel jumped in.  “Alternatively, we could ask the King of Hell to let us use souls that have been damned to Hell.  They might not work, due to where they have gone, but it might be better penance for them if we allow them to work with us.  If we allow them to sacrifice themselves to our cause rather than just leave them suffering in Hell for eternity.  We would need souls that have not been demonically tainted too much yet, however.  Plus,” she added, looking at Ramiel.  “I think most would prefer their destruction to all that pain they would have to otherwise endure.”

While Dean didn’t like the idea of using _any_ souls in their plans – he remembered too clearly what had happened when Cas tampered with the souls in purgatory – he had to admit that the two sister angels had come up with a much less objectionable plan than just plucking souls from their paradises in heaven. 

“What do you say?  We would be saving some souls from eternal damnation.  And they would, perhaps, still enter the embrace of Father, wherever He is now.” 

The seven angels looked around at each other, thinking. 

“Alright, fine.  As long as we try the Hell route first, I’m in,” Gabriel said, sighing. 

“Me too,” Hannah said, though with a look on her face that said she was begrudgingly going along with this.

“Cassiel?”  Ramiel turned to him, looking for his approval even though the yes votes now were the majority.

Cas looked around, and then his eyes stopped on Dean. 

He was overwhelmed with a feeling of needing to protect the human.  From this Darkness.  From Chaos.  And for that, he decided that he would do just about anything.  And if this was the only way…then so be it.

“Very well.”

\-----

Dean was getting more than a little tired of playing the part of the messenger; once the angels had decided that they needed to ask Crowley about the souls in Hell, they sent the two humans back down to Earth to summon the King and speak with him.  Although they had good reason not to come themselves (the brothers remembered how quickly Chaos found the angels before), it still didn’t make this task any less annoying. 

Of course, the Winchesters were sent somewhere far away from where Chaos was last seen, and so Dean was once again without his baby, which frustrated him _even more_.  They had been dropped in a forest, actually; Cas had promised to get them out of there as soon as he possibly could after they spoke with Crowley.

“Let’s get this over with,” Dean grumbled, watching Sam.  He pulled out his phone and dialed the demon’s number after putting it on speaker.  It rang a few times (unusual…Crowley usually answered him after only one or two rings) before he heard the King’s voice.

“Hello boys,” Crowley said, as if he knew that he was speaking with both brothers.  “What can I do for you this fine evening?

“Listen, we need to ask you about the souls in Hell.  Do you think they’d be able to resurrect one of the dark angels?  The archangels want to use souls but not ones that are in heaven.”

“Hm, this sounds like a conversation we should have face-to-face.”

“Crowley, we don’t even know where we are, we can’t possibly tell-”

But Dean stopped mid-sentence when the King was suddenly standing a few feet from them, still on his phone.  He smirked and hung up, before holding his arms out.  “Ta-da,” he practically sang.  But now, Sam was on edge, straightening his posture and narrowing his eyes.”

“How did you find us?

“You should have reminded your little angel friends to reapply your makeup,” the demon replied, still smirking.  He was referring to the warding symbols that Castiel and Gabriel had marked on them some time ago, but the brothers figured that that stuff would have lasted longer, otherwise the angels would have fixed it.

“But,” Sam said, thinking, “I thought that was just protecting us from Chaos…you still shouldn’t be able to find us, even if it wore off.  Unless-”

“Unless he was working with Chaos, now?”  A woman’s voice said, but it wasn’t the goddess’.  No, it was a certain witch’s.

“Rowena,” Sam growled, looking around for her.  “Where are you?”

“Now, now, no need for the hostility, Samuel,” Rowena responded.  A dark cloud formed from the ground, and the witch stepped out of it, dusting herself off.  Sam and Dean pulled out their guns and raised them at her, to which she feigned looking hurt.  “Now boys, that isn’t a very polite way to greet someone.”  With a flick of her wrist, she threw the guns from their hands.  Rowena had obviously gotten more powerful. 

“I thought you wanted Crowley dead.  So what, the family’s back together?”  Sam asked, while Rowena strode over to her son, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Well, I decided that he had better uses.  And I always wanted a dutiful and obedient child, after all.”

Crowley’s eyes flashed purple, and he remained standing still.

“What’d you do to him?”  Dean inquired, eyes darting back and forth between the witch and the demon.

“I’m just making him listen to his mother,” Rowena answered slyly. 

“So you’re controlling him,” Sam translated.  “How?”

“If you _must_ know, a little…well I guess _former_ angel told me about it.”  Rowena crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Metatron, I’m guessing,” Sam said to Dean, who growled in response.  Great.  The last thing they needed was Metatron and Rowena working together.  How did those two even find each other?   

“Now boys, before you go getting any ideas, I’ll have you know that Fergus here isn’t the only one I have.”  Rowena clapped her hands once and suddenly, demons stepped out from behind the trees, surrounding the brothers. 

Dean couldn’t help but wish Cas was here to help. 

“What, so you’re just going to kill us now?”  Sam was wondering why they were still alive if Rowena had wanted them dead.  The witch just laughed, and pointed behind the brothers, who turned around.

Chaos was standing there, her black smoke swirling around her feet.

“No,” she said, with a smirk.  “You two are bait for much bigger fish.”    

Immediately, Dean knew what she meant: they weren’t the targets here.  The _angels_ were. 

_Cas_ was.

Before Dean could pray to his friend to tell him to stay away, demons suddenly were dying left and right.  Four figures appeared around Sam and Dean, protectively, and the brothers immediately identified them as Cas, Gabriel, Lucifer, and Michael.  The archangels were in their armor, with their light weapons in their hands.  Michael and Lucifer charged at Chaos, while Gabriel went for Rowena.  Cas remained besides the brothers, fending off demons that had begun to charge at them.

Just as Gabriel was about to strike Rowena, the witch disappeared with a cloud of smoke.  Chaos too, vanished suddenly before Lucifer and Michael could reach her.  But their voices remained, and the two chanted something in a language that sounded like a mixture of Enochian and something else entirely.

Darkness came up from the ground and surrounded each angel.  They slashed at it with their blades of light, but the Darkness persisted mercilessly.  It covered their legs and feet, causing the angels to become immobilized from the waist-down.  Under them, the ground seemed to open up. 

The first to go under was Lucifer.  The Darkness dragged the fallen angel down, even as he struggled against it.  Then Michael, and then Gabriel.  One by one the Darkness was taking the angels where the ground had split, and where the demons were following. 

It dawned on Dean that Chaos was dragging the angels to Hell.

He turned to Cas, who was still fighting against the Darkness’ hold on him.  Calling the other’s name, Dean grabbed onto his angel, trying to help pull him free.  Deep down, a part of him knew that this was never going to work, but _damnit he had to try_.

“Dean, stop!”  Cas was frantic with his order; he didn’t know what the Darkness would do to Dean if he hung onto him for much longer.  But the human refused to let go, still doing his best to try and help.

Just as Sam was about to grab Dean to pull him away, the Darkness covered more of Cas and his brother, and then it happened.

Castiel and Dean were, together, dragged down into Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter isn't very long, but I'm hoping the next one to be much more! 
> 
> Also I never replied to comments but thank you so much for your encouraging words! I really appreciate it! :) And everyone who has left kudos so far, thank you so much!


	18. Beast and the Harlot

All Cassiel remembered seeing was Darkness.  Not just Hell’s, but Chaos’ as well.  The essences of the two swirled together to create a burning blackness which the angel had never experienced before.  It singed his wings and hair, and charred some of his flesh.  He called out for Dean, trying to reach for the human, but was unable to touch him; Dean must have gotten separated from him on the way down. 

He landed, finally; falling on his face.  The archangel groaned, his light emanating from him, making it somewhat easier to see.  When he tried to get up, he sputtered, coughing up more than a little bit of blood.

“What the-” Cassiel stared at the red liquid on the floor beneath him; this was unusual.  Chaos’ power was at play here; Hell should not affect an angel this way, and yet Cassiel could see boils beginning to form on his arms.  He tried to move, willing his legs to stand, but then collapsed again; he felt weak.  So weak…

But he remembered Dean.  He had to find him.  He had to save him. 

Grabbing onto his spear, Cassiel dragged himself up again, using the weapon to lean on as he slowly began to walk.  “Dean!”  He called out, his voice harsh and scratchy.  Even speaking made his insides feel like fire.  It was a pain that the angel hadn’t experienced before, because it seemed very… _human_.  Like he was one of the human souls receiving punishment for their sins.

Still though, he pressed on, continuing to hoarsely cry out for Dean.  If he was feeling like this, he could only imagine the pain the human was undergoing right now.  He walked, trying to will his wings to carry him, but he found the bones broken, and even moving them a little was excruciating.  So, instead, his legs pressed on.  He could feel himself slowing down with each step, and once in a while he coughed up more blood.

All around him, he heard the moans of the damned souls.  He saw people concealed within flames, others were being bitten by reptilian creatures, while demons whipped others walking in lines.  To these souls and creatures, the angel did not seem to exist, despite his light acting as a beacon in the dark.

It was as if he was invisible.

That was, unless a figure stood across from him.

“Castiel,” it said, its voice low.

Despite the archangel’s initial instinct to correct the use of his other name, he stayed silent, squinting in order to try and get a better look at the being.  But his light could only travel so far in this blackness, and the other’s face remained hidden.  The creature stepped forward into the light, and Cassiel’s eyes widened. 

The creature looked like him.

“Who are you?”  Despite feeling like he could collapse at any moment, Cassiel stood up straighter, gripping tightly onto his spear.

“I am God,” his doppelganger replied, with a small grin. 

“No, you’re not.  You’re an abomination, and yet you look like me.  Why?”

“I am God,” the creature just repeated, taking another step closer.  “And I am you.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Cassiel responded, feeling confused and frustrated.  “If you’re supposed to be me, you can’t possibly be God as well.”

“And yet you were the one to claim yourself to be your Father.”

To that, Cassiel was genuinely confused.  He did not remember ever doing something so blasphemous.  Was that something he did?  After all, his memory was tampered with, and he didn’t remember many things.  Those missing pieces of his mind…he had been wanting them back, in order to make sense of the emotions he felt when he dealt with Dean Winchester, but if this creature was telling the truth…then he was worse as Castiel than he is as Cassiel, right?  Maybe not remembering his transgressions as the former would be better…

“You’re lying!”  Despite his internal battle, the archangel had to remember something very important about demons: they lie.  And that’s all this was; a lying demon, using Chaos’ power to disguise itself as him.  “Begone, foul creature!”  Even with the diseases coursing through his body, Cassiel was still able to make himself boom with righteousness, and for a split second, he felt healthy again.

“No, Castiel.  _Falsifier.  False God.  Fraud.”_ The demon took steps towards him, and a sword of darkness formed in its hand.  Around Cassiel, chanting began. 

“ _Falsifier.”_

_“False God.”_

_“Fraud.”_

The archangel protectively held onto his weapon, but his hands were shaking; he still felt so weak.  He watched carefully as the demon kept approaching, and with each step forward the other took, Cassiel took a step back.  He didn’t like doing so – it felt almost as if he was cowering – but it took so much of his strength to even grip and keep his spear up.  He didn’t think he could take the demon in a one-on-one fight right now.

Unfortunately, he was forced to stop when he reached the edge of a lake.  A lake of boiling pitch, in which sinners were immersed and screaming out in pain.  Cassiel cursed his broken wings, and tried to put some energy into healing them, but to no avail.  The demon began to come towards him faster; the archangel raised one of his palms, but no smiting light came from it.  He was too weak right now.

He was helpless.

Hearing this constant chanting and seeing the charging demon suddenly made him panic, and he yelled.  “No!  I’m not God!  I never was!”

Castiel thought of Dean as the demon raised its sword.

\-----

Gabriel knew he was dreaming.  He knew, because he distinctly remembered falling into Hell, and this was no Hell.  Instead, he found himself in a hotel.  Specifically, he found himself in the hotel where he fought with Lucifer, and where he was revealed as an angel to the pagan gods.  He also was wearing his normal clothes, rather than the armor he adorned when he was dragged into the ground.  Despite being able to feel his wings, they were invisible even to his own eyes. 

Ah, Chaos was playing her little games.  Very well; Gabriel was no stranger to tricks and games, after all.

He wandered around the lobby, looking around for any sign of life other than himself.  Images of Lucifer’s massacre here flooded into his mind, and he shook his head as if trying to purge them from his memory.  His feet took him down the hallway to where the conference room was, and he swung the doors open, wondering what awaited him there.

“Loki.”  Despite not being able to see her, Gabriel recognized that voice.

“Kali.  Or should I say, Kali’s lookalike, since you’re not really her.”

The goddess spun around in her chair from the opposite side of the conference table, that oh so intense and familiar look in her eyes.  Gabriel couldn’t help but admit that he loved that look.  That passionate _fire_ that she had…he admired it. 

“And what makes you so sure?  After all, you’ve been away from your tricks for quite some time…pretending to be someone you’re not.”

“I was pretending before, Kali.  I’m not anymore.”

The goddess signed and got up from her spot, striding across the room so she was face-to-face with the archangel.

“Are you really not, though?  After all, you turned your back on heaven, on your brothers and sisters.  You said we were your family.  Maybe Gabriel has become the mask hiding your true self, Loki,” she said, reaching up to touch his face.  But Gabriel caught her wrist with his hand before her fingers could reach his skin.  She just gave him a coy smile.  “The angels…they’re not your family.  We are.  _I_ am.”

“You are, but…they are too.  It’s complicated.”  Why was he even responding, Gabriel thought.  This wasn’t Kali.  …Right?  His mind was getting fuzzy, for some reason.  He couldn’t think.

“It’s not _that_ complicated,” the goddess responded, taking another step closer to the archangel.  “Your true family has been us all along.  You can stay here.  No more pretending.”

Looking at Kali was dangerous right now; Gabriel always had a soft spot for the goddess, and he had thought he would never come across her again.  The more he looked at her, the more he wanted to stay…why should he help the angels anyway?  His brothers were dicks, especially Lucifer, who didn’t hesitate to try to kill him.

Maybe Lucifer didn’t hesitate because he really did belong amongst the pagan gods, rather than the angels.  Maybe Lucifer hated him because he was Loki, not Gabriel.  

His mind was spinning…he felt dizzy. 

He knelt down to the floor, needing to be closer to the ground so the dizzy spell would hopefully pass. 

“Forsake them, Loki.  Stay with me.”

And the former trickster wanted to.  _Oh,_ how he wanted to.  Staying with Kali right now seemed like the absolute best thing that he could do.  Why should he go back to the angels?  He was Loki, not Gabriel.  He always Loki.  Loki, pretending to be Gabriel. 

Yes, that was it.

But just as he was about to get up and tell Kali yes, he noticed something.  Black smoke was surrounding her feet.  Kali did not have darkness around her like that.  This was a trick.  It was all a game.  Chaos’ game.

“No,” he said, softly.  “You’re not Kali.  You’re not her, and I won’t turn my back on them.  Not again.”  Seeing the black smoke had some sort of remedying effect on the archangel; his dizziness disappeared and he felt like he could think clearly again.  He was the archangel Gabriel, as he always had been.  His head tilted up so he could look at the goddess, who sighed, giving him that judgmental expression that he secretly always enjoyed more than he should have.

“Very well.”

She touched the top of his head with her palm.

And Gabriel woke up.

He was in a flaming coffin.

\-----

Michael crash-landed, hitting the ground a few times before finally stopping in hot sand.  He groaned, stretching out his wings so he could fly himself back to Earth and then heaven, but once he did, fire rained down from the sky and struck him.  Some of the feathers of his wings began to burn; his beautiful white color becoming slightly gray from the ash.  He tucked his wings back in, but the fire flakes continued to come from the blackness above. 

He cursed; Chaos had strengthened Hell’s power astronomically; normally these flames would not burn nearly as much as they currently were.  He could smell where the fire met his flesh; it was a disgusting stench which made the angel’s stomach churn grossly.  Even as Michael began to walk, the sands became hotter and hotter, burning the bottoms of his armored boots.  

Maybe if he just flew into the air as fast as possible and ignored the pain he could get out…

The commander leapt into the air and spread his wings at the latest possible opportunity.  The flakes seemed to get larger, hitting and practically frying his feathers, but he still pressed on, dodging as many as he possibly could.  The fire-rain became more like a storm, making it impossible for him to continue evading the debris from the blackness above.  Again, Michael crashed, this time his wings smoking and now brittle in some areas. 

There was no way he was going to be able to fly out of here like that. 

He stayed on the ground, despite how the sands burned his skin.  When he looked up, he saw his Father, and he called out to him. 

“Father…!”  In Enochian, the angel asked for help, for guidance, but the image of the Lord just looked down on him, judgmentally. 

“You two were going to cover the Earth in fire.  My greatest creation, and you wanted to burn it, just like this.  You have sinned against me, Michael.  Just like Lucifer did.”

“What?  No…no, it was prophesized!”  Michael couldn’t bear to hear his Father say that he was like _Lucifer_.  That he had sinned _like Lucifer_. 

“I see your time in Hell did nothing for you.  Perhaps you should stay here for another six hundred years with your brother.”

And God turned around, fading into the distance.  Michael got up and began to run after him, trying his best to ignore the flakes that were coming down harder and harder with every step he took. 

  No, he had to reach him…

He had to reach him before…

The archangel slowed down, coming to a stop. 

“You’re gone…you’re dead.  You can’t be here right now…”  He whispered to himself.  While he did not see his Father’s death, he felt it, and he could feel it still.  God was dead; Chaos had killed him mercilessly, and now she was controlling these monsters and illusions in Hell.

She wanted him to follow his Father.  This was one of her games. 

Michael knew that he should have realized this truth earlier, but he had been so overwhelmed with emotion when he saw the image of his Father that he could not think clearly.  Or, perhaps, that was part of Chaos’ plan and power all along.

“Maybe…”  He turned around, looking into the distance in the opposite direction.  While he only saw desert all around him, he had a feeling he would find something else if he went that way, rather than continue his attempt to chase the illusion of his Father.

So, Michael turned, and even felt the pelting of the fire ease up.

\-----

Lucifer crashed into ice. 

The ice was solid and freezing and yet…it was also dry.  Very dry.  The fallen angel had always said he burned cold, but this cold was even beyond him, and he knew what forces were at work here.  Chaos – with her Darkness – and the very nature of Hell, which included layers upon layers of fire.  Except, perhaps ironically, for the final level; a layer that was almost entirely encased in ice.  Together, the two formed a terrible and terrific entity which impressed even the Devil. 

That combination had him enclosed in ice from the waist down.  His wings were free, but they mocked him, almost; every time Lucifer tried to use them to pull himself out, all he did was create a gust of freezing wind which seemed to strengthen his prison.  It was infuriating, really. 

There had to be a way out of this place that he wasn’t thinking of.

He saw beings immersed in the ice along with him; some souls only had their heads out of it, while others were entirely encapsulated.  Lucifer knew their sins, and he knew why he was among them; he just hadn’t expected Chaos’ influence over Hell to be _this_ powerful, to make it so that even he could not break out so easily. 

“Lucifer,” a voice said.  His Father’s voice.  But the archangel could not see him.

“I know you’re dead, so you’re wasting your time,” Lucifer replied, still struggling against the powerful ice.

“Yes, I am, but that doesn’t mean I can’t speak with you, Lucifer.  I am all-powerful still, even in death.” 

“Yet you won’t help us defeat Chaos.  Why am I not surprised.”  In truth, Lucifer still did not believe he was really talking with his deceased lord Father, but just in case he _was_ (after all, none of them knew what their Father was capable of in death), he was going to let the guy know how messed up He was being.  Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time Lucifer butted heads with his dear old Dad. 

“I can’t help one who hates me so, Lucifer,” the voice replied, sounding melancholic.  To that, Lucifer looked taken aback.

“What makes you think I hate you?  I don’t.  I loved you.”

“ _Loved_ , yes,” God’s voice said, emphasizing the past tense on that word.  “Not love.  Not now.”

“I don’t hate you.  I hate those creatures of yours.  Those…abortions.  Those humans, who are so flawed.”

“And you and I are so perfect, Lucifer?”

“Yes.”  The answer was immediate, and Lucifer’s voice sounded angry; he did not like being compared to those faulty hairless apes. 

“No, Lucifer, we aren’t.”

The fallen angel said nothing but growled lowly.  He was losing his patience with the voice, regardless whether or not it was his dead Father he was speaking to. 

“And because I didn’t agree we should cater to them, you threw me into Hell.  Alone.  Tell me, Father, how does that punishment fit the crime!”

“You were punished for your disobedience.  You were a soldier of light and heaven.  You were meant to obey, and you failed.”

“I didn’t _want_ to obey that order!”

“Exactly.”

Except the person who last spoke was no longer his Father, but Chaos.  The woman appeared from a dark cloud of smoke and stepped out in front of the Devil, circling him.  Lucifer again tried to fly out of the ice, but his wings just kicked up a freezing storm, which did not seem to affect the ancient goddess at all.

“You see, Lucifer, you were punished simply for wanting to be _free_.  Why do you tie yourself to someone who would hold you back so?  Who would give you so much strength and then forbid you from ever truly being able to use it?  _That_ is the true crime, my dear.”

“I know what you’re trying to do.  You won’t turn me into one of your soldiers.”

“You’re right, I won’t,” Chaos said, smiling at him.  “Those are angels who have died, Lucifer, and they returned to me.  You…you I have no wish to kill.  You’re too beautiful, too powerful, too _spectacular._ From the moment you arrived in this universe I knew that you were truly a child of my own, not Yahweh’s.  You always had freedom on your mind, and the Darkness in your heart.”

Although Lucifer had been trying to resist the goddess for so long, the woman did have a silver tongue, and the angel couldn’t help but believe she had some valid points.

“What makes you think I’ll just betray my family for you?”  Lucifer hated disloyalty, even now.

“Because _I_ am your true family.  You are a child of the dark, Lucifer.  Of _freedom_.  You were given an order you found reprehensible and you disobeyed.  In my universe, that would be the norm.  That would be _beautiful_.  No one would ever be able to punish you for doing what you truly wanted to do, especially with your strength.  It would be survival of the fittest, and so, you would survive.”

She touched his wings, feeling the soft feathers in her hands.  He took in a deep breath.  “And what about my brothers and sisters?”

“The ones who stood by while you were cast into the pit, you mean?  They are not my children…not like you are.  I will not ask them to join me as I am you.      

“I can’t.”

She sighed.  “Love, what do you think those brothers and sisters will do if you manage to defeat me when this is all over?  Just allow you to be free?  Allow you to remain out of the pit?  No, to them, you belong in Hell, and nowhere else.”

“So they’ll put me back here just like you have?”

She laughed.  “I only did this because I wanted to talk to you.  I knew you wouldn’t listen otherwise.  Here,” she said, snapping her fingers.  All of a sudden, the ice around Lucifer seemed to ebb away, and when he flapped his wings he was able to fly into the air and out of his temporary prison.  He landed next to Chaos, staring at her, incredulously. 

“Why did you-”

“I am freedom.  It is truly against my nature to keep you trapped here.  But I implore you, do not think that your brothers and sisters will be so generous.  They will cast you back into that cage as soon as they are done with you.  To them you are a tool, and nothing more.”  A dark cloud appeared from the ground, and Chaos walked towards it, continuing.  “You are free to leave, if you so desire, but heed my words, my dear.  If you ever wish to change your allegiance to a side which has your best interest in mind…just say so, and I will appear.”  Before stepping into the swirling Darkness, she looked back at him, with a smile on her face. “I do hope you will think about what I’ve said.”

And suddenly, she disappeared.

Lucifer, rather than flying out of Hell immediately, just stood there, staring at where he had last seen Chaos.

Perhaps…she was right.                

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of this chapter was influenced by Dante's "Inferno" and the 9 circles of Hell (with each angel in a specific circle)! 
> 
> Also, doing gishwhes this week; I'll try to be regular with updates still, but it might be another week until I can get another chapter out there! Sorry!


	19. We're Not Gonna Take It

Sam called out for his brother and his angelic friend after he watched them get dragged down into the gaping hole in the earth.  He knew where that hole led, and he tried to reach them to try and pull them back or follow them or _something_.  However, that pit down to Hell closed up before he could do anything.  Thus, he stood alone in the forest.  All the demons had disappeared into the hole when it closed, and Rowena and Chaos were also nowhere to be found. 

What could he do?  He had to figure out _something_.

He felt useless right now.

“Samuel,” Ramiel suddenly appeared in front of him and grabbed his arm.  Before the hunter could react, the angel pulled him into Heaven’s sanctuary. 

“What are you doing?  Go after them!”  Sam demanded when he got ahold of his footing, blinking a few times to get his eyes used to the white light of heaven.  His voice was frantic and loud, and despite his request, the angel did nothing.  Behind her, Raguel and Hannah appeared, both dressed for battle.  They looked forlorn at best.

“We can’t.  Hell’s gates are shut tight,” Hannah informed a disappointed Ramiel. 

“What are you talking about?”  Sam couldn’t comprehend exactly the meaning behind Hannah’s statement right now; all he wanted was his brother and friends out of Hell. 

“Chaos has them sealed; we can’t get in.  We can’t even communicate with them via angel radio,” Raguel sternly added, not exactly appreciating Sam’s tone of voice.  He ignored her informal warning to calm down.

“Then what, you’re just going to sit there and do _nothing_?”  He was practically screaming now, his hazel eyes wild in his frustration and anger.  “Bring me back, I’ll figure out something without your help,” he growled, glaring straight at Ramiel.  The angel just sighed and shook her head.

“No, Sam, it’d be too dangerous for you.”  Despite Sam’s anger, she spoke softly and gently; truly, she understood how he felt.  After all, he wasn’t the only one with a brother down in Hell right now.  And with Chaos’ influence all over that place, she imagined that her brothers were undergoing trials that were perhaps more torturous than anything Dean was being subjected to.  And while she had faith in her siblings, Chaos’ supremacy made Ramiel very nervous.  She did, after all, see the goddess strike down her own Father.

“I don’t care!”  Sam exclaimed.

“I know you don’t.  And that’s why I am not going to bring you back.”

Sam growled and turned to the other two angels, his eyes pleading.  But both of them looked away from the hunter; he obviously wasn’t going to get them to help him either.  He began to walk away; maybe he could find the door to this place and get out by himself.  He _had_ to.  There was no way Sam was going to leave Dean in the grasp of Hell and its demons.

“Sam.”  The younger Winchester stopped when he heard Ramiel say his name, this time speaking more forcefully than she had been before.  He stopped and turned towards her again.  “There is something you might be able to do,” she said, albeit cautiously.     

Of course that piqued his interest.  “Yeah?”

“We might not be able to communicate with them, but… _you_ might be able to.  You – being human – have the power of prayer.  Prayers are very powerful, and very loud,” Ramiel informed him.  “While none of us would be able to hear anything in return, you might be able to send messages to them.”

Sam thought for a moment, and nodded. 

“You should send them individually,” Raguel chimed in, stepped up next to Ramiel.   “Prayers to specific angels are louder than general ones, and are more likely to reach them.”

Sam thought about protesting to the idea of praying to _Lucifer_ specifically, but he kept his mouth shut; he would do anything right now – including praying to the Devil – to save Dean and the archangels.  “What should I say?”

“Tell them that whatever they are feeling or seeing is due to Chaos.  That they have to escape Hell.  Your prayer should guide them to us, out of there.  The prayer should act as a beacon.” 

So, just words of encouragement were what they were going for. 

Sam sighed.

“Dear Cas…”

\-----

Cassiel barely felt when the demon hacked off his left arm.  He fell to the ground, staring almost blankly at the motionless limb a few feet away while blood pooled from his open wound.  The diseases coursing through his body made him cough violently while his demonic doppelganger watched and grinned horribly.  Despite knowing he had to get out of there, the archangel’s morale was low, and he could not gather the strength needed to stand. 

Part of him also felt like he deserved this.  Impersonating the Father was one unforgivable crime that Cassiel never thought he would be guilty of.

“Cas!”

The archangel turned his head towards the blackness above.  Was that…?

“Sam?”  Cassiel knew that voice; the younger Winchester was praying to him. 

“Cas, if you can hear me, just listen…  Whatever you’re feeling and seeing is because of Chaos.  You have to break free of it.  She wants to keep you guys trapped down there so she could have a better chance at getting into heaven,” Sam explained; Cassiel knew immediately that the human was with his sisters, and he felt slightly better knowing that at least, for now, Sam was safe. 

But how could he do what Sam suggested?  The archangel looked over at his left arm, still on the ground away from him.  He crawled over to it, finding the strength to at least do that, and dropped his spear in order to grab the limb.  Carefully, he put it up where it had been severed, and watched as it reattached itself seamlessly to his shoulder.   

Already, he felt stronger.

However, once his arm was back on, the demon came for him again.  Only this time, he was ready, grabbing onto his spear with both hands, blocking the monster’s sword from taking away any other body parts.  He used his weapon to lean on as he shakily stood, trying to will the strength back into his body.  He coughed up some blood again, and groaned.  The sicknesses were still present, sapping at his vitality second after second.

“Also, Cas…please…save my brother,” Sam begged.  Of course, Cassiel did not need to be asked to do such a thing.  The problem was, of course, getting out of here and then _finding_ where the older Winchester was.   

“Cas!”

That was not Sam’s voice now.

“…Dean?”

Despite knowing that the human wouldn’t be able to hear him, the archangel said the name, once again glancing up. 

“Cas, please!”  Judging by the frantic tone in Dean’s voice, along with the anguished cries that came after it, the hunter was being tortured.  And unlike Cassiel’s angelic brothers and sisters, there was close to zero chance that the human would be able to escape the clutches of his tormentors very easily. 

“Cas, please, help me!  Cas!”

He had to find Dean. 

He had to save him. 

Cassiel’s eyes and body began to glow white, and a pulse radiated from him.  That pulse struck the demon, causing it to scream and disintegrate into nothingness.  The darkness all around seemed to ebb away due to the archangel’s newfound light; shadows disappeared after the brightness swallowed and overpowered them.  The tortured souls around Cassiel all stared up at him, and began to cry out for his help.  For him to save them from this eternal damnation. 

But Cassiel knew that he could only save one.  One that he _had_ to save.

The light flowed through him, eradicating all the diseases from his person.  His wings healed themselves, and he spread them; once again they were full and healthy and _beautiful_ and _strong_.  Cassiel lifted himself off the ground, clutching onto his spear tightly. 

“Cas!”

He could feel the direction where Dean was.  Between the prayer and Dean’s longing for him, Cassiel knew where to go.

Castiel took off, slashing away at any and all monsters that dared stand between him and his hunter.

\-----

It was so _hot_.

The flames surrounding Gabriel in his tiny tomb were burning his skin and wings, and every time he tried to push himself out, his hands just ended up scorched and blistered, forcing him to heal them over and over before trying again.  He knew he had to get out; he couldn’t stand this flaming prison much longer.     

“Dammit-” Gabriel cursed when he tried pushing the tomb open once again, only for the thing not to budge while his hands were cooked.  He could smell the pungent stench of his burning flesh, which made him uncomfortable and feel sick.  But that discomfort didn’t stop him from continuing. 

“Alright, Gabriel, this isn’t working,” he said to himself after some time, allowing his hurt hands to rest at his sides.  He had to think of something else, obviously.  He had also tried to bust open the tomb with his light, but he wasn’t able to make that work either; the damn door just wasn’t budging from the inside. 

“Gabriel!  It’s Sam!”

A prayer.  A prayer from one Sam Winchester.  Gabriel was surprised that the hunter’s voice could reach him all the way down here, but hey, prayers were powerful stuff.  His Dad had made sure of that.

“Gabriel, listen to me.  Everything you’re seeing and feeling is because of Chaos.  You need to get out of there now,” Sam said, and Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, tell me something I _don’t_ already know,” he replied, even though he knew full well that Sam wouldn’t be able to hear him in return.  Despite that, Sam’s voice seemed to give Gabriel some extra strength and a morale boost; that not-so-little human obviously still had faith in them, enough to get a prayer through Chaos’ Darkness and the horrors of Hell.  Sam’s faith had to be rewarded somehow.

And the only way Gabriel was going to be able to do that would be to bust out of this stupid flaming tomb.

But pushing at the door to open clearly hadn’t been working.

Gabriel closed his eyes and imagined the outside of the tomb; he obviously couldn’t see it, so he wasn’t completely sure if this was going to work, but Sam’s prayer had invigorated him, and so at least this attempt was something _different_.

With his new strength, he conjured a double on what he hoped was the opposite side of the tomb’s door.

“Alright, now bust my ass out of here!”  He willed his double to copy his actions; he raised his palms and pressed them against the door, his focus entirely on them.  He didn’t push; the flames reacted stronger when he pushed.  Instead, he just let them rest against the door; the flames now just seemed to wash over them, without any sort of burning or blistering of his skin.  He concentrated hard, pouring his smiting light into his hands; with his other self on the outside doing the same thing, the light attacked the door from both angles. 

The door shattered, and Gabriel flung himself from the tomb before it collapsed into a heaping pile of flames.  His double smirked at him and then faded.

“Time to get the hell out of here.’

Gabriel produced a gold light, his great wings spreading out.  The Darkness swirled around him but couldn’t reach his person, not with his great light emanating from him like that.  He soared into the air, following the prayer that Sam had sent to him from above. 

That prayer was his ticket out of Hell.

\-----

Michael felt like he had been walking for _hours_.

While that normally would not feel all too long for an archangel of the Lord, Michael needed to deal with burning sand and fire flakes (though they had eased up) raining down from the sky.  Of course, this made the time that had passed seem much more agonizing and _long_.

He also was beginning to have second thoughts about where he was going.  His landscape hadn’t changed throughout the entire time he had been traveling.  Perhaps he was wrong about where he was supposed to go.

No, he couldn’t turn back now.  He had to continue on.

“Michael!  Michael, listen to me,” Sam’s voice pierced through Hell’s nightmarish atmosphere.  “Everything you’re seeing is due to Chaos…you need to get out of there now.” 

The archangel turned his head up towards the sky; Sam’s prayer was definitely coming from above…from heaven.  Although the human wasn’t saying anything that Michael didn’t already know, the thought of heaven and Sam’s words made him feel a little stronger.  The burns on his wings and body cleared up a little.  There was a lot of power in prayer.  Power that apparently even he was not fully aware of.  Michael began to glow, and the flakes of fire began disintegrating into his light before hitting him.

Now.

He ascended into the air, and even though the fire rain became more intense, none of the flakes came into contact with him; they crumbled in his wake. 

God’s first angel smirked; thanks to Sam, he could get out of here.

He followed the human’s prayer, flying straight into the blackness in the sky.

\-----

When Lucifer heard Sam’s voice, he was still standing in the same spot where Chaos had left him.  He was surprised that the hunter was praying to him, and yet that also had to mean that the other archangels weren’t able to reach him in any other way.  There was no chance that Sam voluntarily prayed to the Devil if there was another alternative on the table. 

Despite his vessel’s voice telling him to get out of Hell and basically to watch for Chaos – that the goddess was controlling everything down here – Lucifer still couldn’t help but reflect on what she had told him when they were talking.  Truthfully, he could have left Hell any time after she broke him free of the ice, but he was too busy thinking about what to do to actually spend time getting out. 

_‘…to them, you belong in Hell, and nowhere else.’_

Chaos’ voice echoed in the fallen archangel’s head.  Grief for his Father had consumed him so much that he never stopped to think about what would happen to him after this was all over.  He never stopped to wonder what his brothers and sisters’ plans for him were, if they managed to push Chaos back. 

Sure, perhaps he and Michael would finally have their apocalyptic battle when this was all over.  But how would that go for either of them, without their true vessels?  Most likely, they would end up dead or just back in Hell anyway. 

Lucifer knew how his family viewed him, and believed that they wouldn’t hesitate for a second – even after he helped them against this Darkness – to throw him back into the cage. 

But he also had to be sure. 

Loyalty was a trait not many had, nowadays, and Lucifer liked to believe that he possessed it, despite what his siblings thought.  He was thrown in Hell because he loved Father too much, and did not think those humans deserved His affection.  They were flawed, they were sinful, and they were blasphemous in ways that Lucifer could not understand.  How could His Father love them more than His angels?  More than _Lucifer_?

In the Devil’s eyes, he did not betray God.  God betrayed _him_.

And were his brothers and sisters thinking about betraying him again?

Lucifer had to know for sure before he made any decisions about Chaos’ offer.

He did not need Sam’s prayer to guide him out of Hell.  He already knew the way.

That, and Chaos had already cleared a path back to Earth for him.

\-----

Cassiel tore through Hell, his light spear hacking away at any demons who dared to cross his path.  Dean’s prayers continued to guide him, as the human had not stopped asking Castiel to save him.  Amidst all this Darkness, however, it was difficult to find where the hunter was.  Even with Cassiel’s light providing a pathway, the Darkness was overwhelming and suffocating, and every minute that the angel spent flying was another minute where the Darkness was able to get stronger.

Chaos knew what he was after.  _Who_ he was after.  And she intended to guard and hide Dean’s soul as much as possible, to trap the archangel in Hell. 

But Cas had other plans.  Hell’s environment was no longer affecting him, and so the only thing blocking him from finding Dean was the Darkness.  But Castiel had faith; he had faith that Dean’s prayers would guide him and that his own light would show him the way to the hunter’s bright soul.

He had faith in the bond that the two of them shared.  Despite not knowing what it meant or how it came about, Castiel knew it was there, and he believed that it was more powerful than anything that could come at him right now.

The archangel felt invigorated and stronger than he ever had before, with a fierce need to save and protect his human.

He broke through stone and dark fire, ignoring any burns or bruises that were appearing on his body.  They didn’t affect him right now.  He had one task.  One mission.  And he would die before slowing down.

“You won’t be able to save him, you know.” 

Cassiel didn’t even stop when he heard Chaos’ voice echo all around him. 

“He is lost.  And so you will be too.”

Ignore her…he had to ignore her.  Unfortunately, she was beginning to drown out Dean’s prayers, as loud as they had been.  Cas turned, trying to focus only on Dean.  Only on those cries for help, which were unfortunately becoming weaker and weaker.

The Darkness swirled around Cas, closing in.  The archangel’s light, however, kept it from overpowering him, and he pressed on.

“I could just crush his soul, you know.  Or corrupt it, so there would be no way you could ever be able to save him.”

That caused Castiel to stop quickly.  His eyes narrowed, and he grit his teeth furiously.  The light around him became stronger, and his wings even perked up as if ready for some sort of battle.  “Why, just to keep me trapped down here?  Wouldn’t that be against your own philosophy?  Against your ideas of freedom?”

“Perhaps, but sometimes compromises must be made in war.  You understand, don’t you?  Your Father knew this when he sliced away your memories.” 

Cassiel fell silent, and the goddess suddenly emerged from the shadows.  She was smiling; a warm yet arrogant smile which made the archangel uneasy.  He held his weapon up against her defensively, and she just waved a hand, as if it was nothing to be concerned about. 

“Cassiel…what if I told you I could _give you_ those memories back?” 

The spear lowered, and the angel’s eyes widened for a moment.  He had been aching for his removed memories since his Father took them from him.  “You don’t have that kind of power, Chaos,” he said, despite knowing that she _did_ , in fact, possess such abilities. 

“You know that’s not true, my dear Seventh.”  She walked closer to him, but still made a point to stay out of the brightest area of light.  “I can give you those memories, and in return, all I ask is that you stay out of my way.  I’ll even allow you to rescue your human, and you can take him somewhere far away.  Think about it…the two of you could just relax and enjoy each other…explore those feelings you have, Cassiel.  And you would _know_ what they mean.  Doesn’t that sound better than fighting in this war?”

What she was suggesting did actually sound incredibly appealing, as shameful as Cassiel felt to admit it even to himself.  The idea of him and Dean together, him with his memories back…existing somewhere where they did not have to fight anything anymore…even for a soldier of heaven, the thought was alluring.

But then again…he also knew that they would never be free of Chaos.  Even if they went to another planet, somewhere far away, she would eventually spread to every corner of the universe and destroy their paradise.

“No,” he said, short and succinct and forceful.  Chaos sighed and turned her back to him.

“Then, I suppose you’ll never see your human again.”

Castiel growled, and he could feel his light growing stronger with his need to save and protect Dean Winchester.

“Cas, please!”

Dean’s prayer came in loud and suddenly Castiel was glowing white, brighter than he had been before.  “The hell I won’t!”  He shouted to Chaos, who turned again to look at him.  At first, the goddess did not look like she even noticed his light, but it became brighter and larger and her expression transformed into one of fear and surprise. 

“How…?”

And when Castiel heard his name again via Dean’s voice, he held up his palm towards Chaos and shot a blinding and incredibly powerful light towards her.  Before she was hit, however, the goddess disappeared, and her Darkness with her; Cassiel’s light obliterated the blackness in the area. 

Once the light dimmed a little, Castiel was able to see Dean, who was nailed to a tree and had thorny bushes growing all around and into his body.  He had bite marks all over his skin; some chunks of flesh were even missing, as if some monsters had almost feasted upon him.  Castiel dove towards the hunter, landing and then immediately pulling the thorns and nails out from Dean’s body.  The human collapsed into his arms, and Cassiel protectively wrapped his wings around him. 

“Cas…”  Dean spoke softly.  “Glad my prayer got through…thanks…”

Castiel instinctively pressed a kiss to his hunter’s forehead, clinging tightly to him.  His heart was beating quickly; he had been afraid, even if it was just for one moment, that he wouldn’t be able to find Dean and save him.  And now that he had him in his arms, the angel did not want to let go.  He did not want to see Dean in such pain again. 

Which, of course, meant they needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

He quickly healed the other, and then placed two fingers on his head.  “You’re going to want to be asleep for this, Dean.”  Before Dean could respond, Castiel knocked him out and stood, scooping the human into his arms.

And, with his light guiding the way, he flew up and escaped from Hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I'm not too confident with this chapter but I really wanted to get something out there for you guys! Sorry if it is lacking (Michael's part especially, ngl). But I hope to return to regular updating now! Thanks for being so patient with me these past two weeks! <3


	20. Bohemian Rhapsody

Sam watched as one after another, three beams of light came soaring into heaven.  He shielded his eyes from them, while Ramiel and Raguel watched, both smiling widely.  When the lights dimmed, Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel each landed near them, their wings exhibiting some wear and tear from their time in Hell, but they weren’t nearly as bad as Sam would have thought. 

“Thanks for the prayer, Sam,” Gabriel said, walking up to the human and putting a hand on his shoulder.  The hunter grinned a little.

“Glad to see you guys heard me,” Sam responded.  He hadn’t been sure if his message to them got through – despite the supposed power that prayers had – but he was glad to see that three of the four angels were out of Hell.  Except…Sam’s expression became more forlorn when he did not see a fourth beam of light burst through heaven after a few more seconds.  “Where’s Cas?  Where’s Dean?”

“Relax, they’re probably on their way!” Gabriel said, still on a high thanks to his escape.  But Sam just glared at him.

“ _Probably_?  Did none of you try looking for them?  What if something happened?  What if Chaos has them?  Or _worse_?  Why didn’t you look for them?”  Sam was shouting, angry that not one of the three brothers set out in search of Dean and Cas while in Hell.  Should he have added that to his message?  He didn’t think he would have needed to, thinking that they would have just chosen to do that on their own.   

“Well, Cassiel is still alive,” Michael interrupted, trying to calm the hunter.  “If Chaos killed him, we would have felt it. 

“That doesn’t exactly make me feel much better,” Sam snapped.  In truth, it was Cas who was probably searching and rescuing Dean, and so it was taking him longer to escape from Hell.  But Cas and Dean alone in Hell with Chaos was not something that made Sam feel at all easy.  Unfortunately, the only thing they could do right now was wait for the remaining two to emerge.  It wasn’t perfect and it made Sam angry, but it was all he could do at the moment, while still stuck in heaven.

“What are our plans for when this is all over?”  Lucifer’s voice suddenly broke a two-minute silence.  He looked around at his brothers and sisters, who seemed taken aback thanks to the unexpected question.  It just seemed very out of the blue to them.

“What do you mean?”  Ramiel asked cautiously, unaware of exactly the answer her older brother was looking for.

“I mean,” Lucifer said, slowly.  “What do you plan on doing with _me_ if and when we defeat Chaos?”

That clarification got everyone’s attention; Sam and the other angels stared at Lucifer. 

“Where is this coming from?”  Michael demanded, his voice somewhat harsh.

“That doesn’t matter,” Lucifer replied, his eyes narrowing.  “What matters is your answer, _Michael_.”

“Lucifer,” Ramiel said, softly.  It was now obvious to her where this was headed, and she wanted to diffuse the very obvious tension that had arisen between her two eldest siblings. “We can’t focus on what will happen after right now.  We don’t even know if we _can_ defeat Chaos yet.”

“So I’m supposed to help you defeat Chaos just for you all to throw me back in Hell?”

“That’s not what I said!  You’re putting words in my mouth,” Ramiel countered, becoming slightly angrier.  But Lucifer wasn’t about to back down.

“You didn’t have to say it.  I know that’s the plan, isn’t it?”  He stared at Michael, who took a few steps closer to the fallen angel.

“It’s where you belong,” he said, threateningly. 

“Michael!”  Ramiel wanted to scold her oldest brother, knowing that all he was doing right now was making their situation worse.  But she also knew that Michael wasn’t about to lie to Lucifer either.  Michael didn’t know how to lie to him, really.  Even after all their time together in the pit, the animosity and conflict between the two brothers apparently hadn’t alleviated in the slightest.

“Even after I help you defeat this Darkness?  I still belong in Hell?”

“Yes.  You betrayed our Father.  You created the demons.  We will have our fight, and I will either kill you or throw you back into that pit you love so much,” Michael answered, raising his wings higher into the air to make himself look bigger.  But it didn’t have much of an effect on Lucifer, who just repeated the action.  Even in heaven, the conflict between the two archangels caused a wind that made Sam stumble and sparks to fly. 

“Stop this immediately!  This is what Chaos wants!”  Ramiel shouted.  But her words fell on deaf ears.  Gabriel and Raguel too, shouted to the feuding pair only to be ignored.

“Why wait?”  Lucifer asked Michael.  “Why not just get this over with right now?”   

Before anyone could answer, Lucifer disappeared, headed back to Earth. 

“Michael, _don’t_ ,” Gabriel said, grabbing onto his eldest brother’s arm.  But Michael wrenched himself free, narrowing his eyes at the other archangel.

“This fight has been delayed for far too long.”

“Dammit Michael we have bigger things to worry about than your little spat with Lucifer!”

“I’m sorry, Gabriel.”

And Michael too, disappeared.

“We have to shut the gates, now,” Raguel suddenly said. 

“What, why?”  Sam asked, still processing what the hell just happened.  That was something that he hadn’t been expecting, and the calamity which was about to come with it was something that he couldn’t quite grasp yet.

“We don’t know what is going to occur; Chaos is probably going to take advantage of this break in our alliance and try and find this place.  We need to shut it to her now.”

“Agreed,” Ramiel said, stepping up next to her sister. 

“But Dean and Cas haven’t come back yet!  We can’t just leave them down there!”  Sam didn’t want the angels to abandon his brother and friend, though Ramiel and Raguel appeared to have the bigger picture in mind.

“Cassiel will understand,” Raguel mentioned, though that of course didn’t bring Sam any sort of comfort.

“Bring me back, then!  I need to get back to Dean!”

“It’s too dangerous right now,” Gabriel said, grabbing Sam’s arm.  As Ramiel and Raguel began chanting a spell and glowing, the archangel flew with Sam over to his Father’s cabin, and immediately began rummaging through things. 

“Gabriel, you can’t trap me here!”  Sam was beginning to sound frantic; Dean and Cas were still in Hell, and now he was going to be sealed in heaven simply because Lucifer and Michael decided to go rogue on them.  Gabriel kept going through everything in the cabin, as if looking for something.

“Sam, once those gates close this will be the safest place for you to be,” he said, not even bothering to look over at the hunter.  He began muttering “where are they” under his breath. 

“I don’t _care_!  I need to make sure Dean is okay!”

“Sam, right now we don’t know that.  And I’m not going to risk your safety _and mine_ , mind you, by bringing you back down to where Michael and Lucy – those colossal _dumbasses_ – are fighting.” 

“Gabriel-”

“ _No_ , I said.”  Gabriel kept looking through things, until he finally stopped with a ‘eureka!’ and pulled out two jar of blood, both more than half empty.  “But what I will do is send _these_ down to Earth and tell Cassiel where they are once he gets out of Hell with your brother.”

“What are they?”

“This one,” Gabriel said, before making one of the jars disappear, “was the rest of Dad’s blood that we got.  Cas should use it to ward himself against Chaos so she can’t find him.  We only had that much left so we didn’t want to use it unless it was for an emergency but I would say this qualifies, no?  And _this_ one,” he continued, as Sam watched the other jar vanish from the archangel’s hand, “is the mixture we put on you and Dean to hide you from Chaos.  I imagine Dean needs a fresh coat by now.”

Sam still didn’t like the fact that he was about to be stuck in Heaven while Dean was still in Hell, but there was little he could do about it.

He sighed and prayed to Cas again, begging him to keep his brother safe.

\-----

Michael dove quickly down to Earth, following Lucifer to that place in the forest where they had together been dragged down to Hell thanks to Chaos.  The fallen angel was already there, waiting patiently for him.  The oldest archangel landed a few feet away from his brother, and willed his light sword to materialize in his right hand. 

Lucifer, however, did not materialize his angelic weapon.  Instead, a sword of darkness emerged, shadows smoking from it when he touched its hilt.  Michael didn’t look surprised; those were weapons of Chaos, and he had a feeling that this was going to happen.

“Michael, dear,” the goddess spoke, her voice echoing throughout the area.  “Did you really think you could threaten to lock Lucifer back up and he would remain by your side?  Not exactly very smart on your part.”  Shadows emerged and she stepped out from them, dusting herself off.  Her encounter with Cassiel in Hell was still on her mind, but right now, she knew that she had to remain focused on this.  On Lucifer finally coming over to her side, where she felt he belonged.  “How could you think he would choose imprisonment with you over freedom with me?”

She watched as Lucifer charged his older brother, and their swords clanged loudly when they clashed together.  The force between them caused a great gust of wind which caused the trees to practically bend outwards, and lightning struck the ground all around the pair.  The lightning caused sparks of fire to light up the grass, and Chaos watched as the power of the two archangels caused devastating effects on the earth around them.  She smiled.

This was the type of setting she loved.  Pure anarchy.  Two brothers only doing what their hearts desired, even if it meant destruction.

To her, it was beautiful.   

Lucifer and Michael ascended into the air, their swords continuing to clash together with loud piercing noises.  Each time they came together, lightning struck and thunder boomed.  Fires quickly spread from the grass to the trees, and though it was hot, none of the powerful beings in the area seemed to feel the heat. 

Michael raised his palm and hit Lucifer with a powerful smiting light, causing the fallen angel to be thrown backwards, hitting and destroying a few trees along the way.  Quickly, Lucifer picked himself up and moved, before Michael was able to stab him in the stomach.  The older brother growled when he realized he missed, and Lucifer struck Michael with the hilt of his shadow weapon.  Michael, too, was thrown backwards into trees, and Chaos once again grinned at the devastation the two brothers were causing.  She wondered exactly how far this damage would spread; the fires alone could wipe out a good chunk of this forest, and the lightning storm could go even further.   

As Lucifer lunged toward Michael, the elder brother used his large and powerful wings to create a huge blast of wind which blew the Devil away, giving him enough time to stand again.  He glared up at Lucifer; he should have known this was going to happen. 

“You’re really going to betray us again?  For _her_?  Who killed Father?”  Michael yelled, clutching onto his sword tighter. 

“You and Father locked me in a cage!  To save those _abominations_ you call humanity!”  For a moment, Michael could have sworn Lucifer looked hurt when he said that.  But it lasted only for that very brief moment.  “She will let me be free!  She’ll let me do what I want, even bringing an end to those disgusting creatures!”

“And how do you know that?  How do you know she won’t just kill you when she gets the chance?”

“Because that’s who she is!  She _is freedom_!  She let me out of Hell when she could have kept me in there!”

Michael looked over at Chaos, who was still standing in the same spot, not caring about the fires that swirled all around her.  He decided instead to charge at the goddess, fury over what she had done overwhelming his senses.  She, however, disappeared into her shadows before he could reach her, and he pulled up with a curse on his lips.   

The first archangel felt something grab onto him; when he looked down, he saw the shadows of the Darkness creeping up his legs, gripping tightly onto him.  He couldn’t move, and he began hacking away at the shadowy vines with his sword of light.  Once he started that, however, more shadows grabbed onto his arms and held them up and in place.  And yet another shadow wrapped around Michael’s throat.  He tried to summon a smiting light in his palm but the Darkness was too much and blocked him.

Chaos again emerged in front of Michael, while Lucifer landed beside her.  She walked over to the older brother and placed a cold hand on his cheek.  “Michael,” she whispered.  “It is time you return to me.”

Michael didn’t even have time to process what that meant before Lucifer glided over to him and pushed his blade into his brother’s chest. 

A blinding light came from the first archangel as he screamed.

When the light dimmed and he opened his eyes again, they were black and hollow.

If one listened closely, one could hear the anguished cries of angels from the heavens.


	21. Maybe I'm Amazed

Cassiel felt it.  The exact moment when Michael perished and Lucifer betrayed them for Chaos.  He was almost out of Hell with Dean when it occurred, and the circumstances made his heart ache terribly.  What happened?  The last he remembered, Lucifer and Michael had been getting along fine (for the two of them, anyway), and Lucifer was on board with their plans given his fury concerning what had happened to their Father. 

He tried flying faster…but there was no point in doing so, really.  The gates to heaven’s sanctuary had already been closed; he could feel that as well.  While Cassiel understood the reason why, the fact that his brothers and sisters abandoned him to Earth and Hell was not something he wanted to give much thought to.  He wondered how easily they made the decision to close the gates and lock him out. 

They had no choice, he kept telling himself.  They had no choice otherwise Chaos would enter heaven via Lucifer.  And keeping the goddess out of their kingdom was their utmost priority, and was more important than any of their individual lives.

Unfortunately, when he realized what had happened, it was too late to change his trajectory; he was directly in route to the place where Chaos had dragged him and Dean down to Hell…and where she currently was with Lucifer.  He busted out of the ground and into the air with a blinding beam of light, and looked around the forest to see the goddess with his two brothers by her side.  Michael’s hollowed eyes were difficult to look at…freeing his two eldest siblings had been a last resort move which had now backfired in the worst possible way. 

“Lucifer…”  Cassiel looked at his fallen brother with disappointment and sadness in his bright blue eyes.  The Devil did not avert his gaze, however, staring up at his youngest archangel sibling in the sky.  Cassiel was still holding an unconscious Dean Winchester in his arms.  Chaos too, gazed up at Cassiel; their encounter in Hell was still on her mind, but now with Lucifer by her side, she was – unaware that the gates had been closed – more interested in getting into Heaven than she was concerned about the seventh archangel. 

A number of dark angels appeared behind the goddess, and she turned to them.  “Take care of him,” she ordered.  Lucifer and Michael stayed by her side, but four other dark angels flew up and charged at Cassiel, who had to lift Dean onto his shoulder in order to free up one of his hands.  He let go a smiting light, hitting and causing one of the four to disintegrate back into Chaos’ shadows. 

“Cassiel!”  The archangel heard Gabriel’s voice in his head, over angel radio.  He materialized his light spear in his free hand, and slashed at one of the enemies who came closer to him.  Having to hold Dean while fighting was inconvenient at the very least but Castiel was not about to let the hunter out of his sight.  “Go to Vatican City!  I left some important stuff there for you!”

Of course, he didn’t need to be told twice. 

Cassiel turned and accelerated quickly, getting out of the area as fast as his wings could carry him.  The dark angels, surprisingly, made no moves to follow him, which meant Chaos was not pursuing him.  Good. 

No, instead, the goddess watched him leave, unmoving in her shadows.  Lucifer turned to her with a questioning look on his face, and she just looked at him with a small smile.  “We will deal with him later, love.  He cannot run forever.  Not from me.” 

\-----

Gabriel made sure Cassiel got his message, watching his brother’s moves from his Father’s cabin in heaven.  He felt guilty about leaving the other archangel stranded on Earth, but Ramiel and Raguel had been right; they had to close the gates before Lucifer could lead Chaos here.  Hopefully with the blood that Gabriel provided Cas, the latter would be able to survive in the goddess’ Dark world and evade her for at least some time.

How _much_ time though?  How much time did Cas need to dodge her?  Forever, maybe?  How long could Ramiel and Raguel power the gates to the sanctuary, keeping them shut?  _How long_? 

How long could they last, now that three of the seven archangels were in Chaos’ hands? 

Gabriel sighed, slouching into a nearby chair.  Sam was looking around, but ultimately focused on the near-lifeless Balthazar, who was still standing in a circle of holy fire.  Funny, Gabriel almost forgot that he was still here even though the fire continued to burn blue.  Not that it mattered anymore; there was no way to obtain the dark angels from Chaos’ grasp without Lucifer to possess them, so Balthazar was their only small victory.  Even though they still didn’t know what to do to revive him. 

Instinct told Gabriel to run.  To put as much distance between him and this world as he possible could, but the former trickster knew that plan was out of the question.  Aside from his angelic duty to stay here and protect heaven and its souls – which, honestly, was not what was _actually_ preventing him from leaving – Gabriel knew that no matter where he went, Chaos would catch up and find him.  Chaos would spread her Darkness to every corner of this universe if they failed to stop her here. 

“Gabriel?”  Sam’s voice snapped the archangel out of his trance. 

“Hmm?” 

“Did you guys say that a soul might be able to revive him?”  The hunter questioned, nodding his head in Balthazar’s direction. 

“It might.  We’re not sure.  But what’s the point now?”  Truthfully, Gabriel’s morale had taken a jarring hit when Lucifer killed Michael – watching his two older brothers fight always upset him, and seeing one _murder_ the other was downright awful – and he couldn’t reason why they should even _bother_ with Balthazar.  They could no longer revitalize Chaos’ entire dark army, so what was the point in reviving even the one?   

“He might have information,” Sam explained, refusing to give in to hopelessness.  Dean was still on Earth with Chaos, and if he couldn’t be there with his brother in person then he was at least going to help however he could from up in heaven.  “Information about her.  I mean, he was _part_ of her, right?  If we revive him and he remembers anything about being with her-”

“Then he might know of a way to defeat her, is that what you’re saying?” 

Sam nodded.  “We need to do something to help Dean and Cas down there!  To help everyone!”

Gabriel smiled; he couldn’t help but admire the younger Winchester’s determination; Sam was not one to give up, even when things seemed dismal.  _How_ exactly Sam could find that resolve was something Gabriel didn’t quite understand, but he imagined it had at least a little bit to do with the hunter’s humanity. 

Humans really were amazing creatures.  Flawed, yes.  But resilient.

Gabriel respected them. 

“Alright, Sam, you win,” he said while throwing up his hands.  But despite what he said, and the gesture he made, he wasn’t at all exasperated.  In fact, he felt less disheartened than he had been before; Sam’s fortitude had been contagious, it seemed.  “Come on.”

Sam walked closer to him and Gabriel put a hand on his shoulder, teleporting the two of them to the individual heavens where the souls resided in their paradises.  (Sam must have been getting more used to all this flying, since he no longer felt as sick when Gabriel brought him to different places.)  They stood outside a door which read “James Miller 1964-2011.” 

“Who is this?”  Sam asked, as Gabriel walked up to the door and placed his hand on the knob. 

“Hopefully someone who will be willing to help us…maybe.  I’m not sure if he’ll want to, actually.  We’ll see.”     

When Gabriel opened the door, Sam followed him inside.  The heaven was a quaint study, filled with books and sophisticated things and a dim light; clearly the man in here had a refined sort of taste. 

“Hello?  Who’s there?” 

Sam looked over to the man who spoke, and his eyes widened.

The soul had Balthazar’s face.            

\-----

Luckily for Cassiel, it was nighttime when he arrived in Vatican City’s catacombs.  No tours were going on, and there was no one in sight, allowing him to look for what Gabriel dropped here without any disturbances.  He had a feeling he knew what it was, and he could feel his Father’s power within the area. 

He placed Dean gently down on the floor and caressed the human’s cheek with his hand.  In his chest, he felt light, and his stomach fluttered a little.  It was childish, in its own way; how could Cassiel feel such pleasant sensations even now, after what just happened with Lucifer and Michael?  It didn’t make any sense.  He was so relieved that Dean was safe at the moment, even though his worry for the future was still ever present in the back of his mind, and he could still see the horrors of what just occurred not too long ago.  Watching Dean be tortured in Hell was not something Cassiel ever wanted to witness again. 

Before choosing to wake Dean up, Cassiel looked around for Gabriel’s gifts, and found them quite easily behind one of the tombs; their power radiated so clearly that they were rather simple for the archangel to locate.  First, he dipped his fingers into the jar holding his Father’s sparkling blood and with it, painted a special sigil on his face.  He also unbuttoned his shirt and duplicated the symbol on his chest, utilizing the remaining blood in the flask.  Quietly, he whispered a few short words, almost like a prayer, and his skin absorbed the thick red liquid.  A soft light began to glow from within him, and Cassiel felt warm and briefly happy, as though his Father was with him right now, watching over and protecting his youngest archangel.  That happiness was short-lived, however, when Cassiel remembered the cruel reality; his lord Father has been killed, and what he used on his skin was all that remained of Him.

Still…he thanked his Father for His protection.

Next – after buttoning up again – Castiel took the container filled with the concoction – the mixture of his and Gabriel’s blood and grace – and began reapplying the Enochian sigils to Dean’s face; the other warding had begun to wear off, and, also given the human’s time in Hell, it was no longer very powerful. 

After Cassiel finished, and the sigils glowed and disappeared, his hand once again stayed on Dean’s cheek.  He put a little bit of power into his palm, and in an instant, Dean woke up.  The hunter looked around at their surroundings before his eyes rested on Castiel’s face.  The angel was staring down at him, smiling warmly. 

“Hello Dean.”

“Cas, uh…where are we?”  He could feel the flush in his cheeks; of _course_ Cas had to be looking at him like that, caressing his face.  Because that didn’t make things awkward _at all_. 

“The catacombs of Vatican City.  Are you alright, Dean?”

“Wait, why aren’t we in heaven?  I figured you would take us back there, since Chaos can find you and everything while on Earth.”

“Not anymore she can’t.  I’ve used my Father’s blood to hide myself from her.”

Although that news should have pleased Dean, the human had a feeling Castiel was not telling him something.  “Cas…why aren’t we in heaven?”

The angel sighed deeply, and took his hand off Dean’s cheek in order to hold it out to him.  The hunter took it, allowing Cas to help him up to his feet.  Dean dusted himself off, mentally making a note to make sure he took a shower as soon as possible; laying down on the dirty floor of a glorified tomb was somewhat skeevy and gross to him (despite all the other gross things he had been subjected to in his lifetime).  Cas was still staring at him with those intense blue eyes, but Dean was now more worried than embarrassed. 

“The gates to the sanctuary have been sealed.  Ramiel and Raguel have made sure of that.”

“What?  _Why_?”  Dean asked, astonished.  It was only after Cas said that that Dean looked around and noticed a very crucial absence.  “…Where’s Sam?”

Castiel looked away, guiltily.  “We’ve been betrayed, Dean.  Lucifer killed Michael and has allied himself with Chaos.  They had to make sure he did not show her the way in.”

“Where.  Is.  Sam?”

“Sam is behind the gates.  In heaven.”

Dean’s jaw clenched and he made fists with his hands.  “You mean to tell me that you _left Sam_ trapped in heaven?  What the hell, Cas?  Tell those sisters of yours to open up so we can get him!”

“You know I can’t do that Dean,” Castiel replied, getting somewhat annoyed thanks to the hunter’s accusations.  “If they open the gates even momentarily, they risk letting the Darkness inside.  And I didn’t _leave_ Sam; I didn’t make it back to heaven after rescuing _you_ from Chaos.”

“You guys should have known that Lucifer would do this!  He’s the fucking _Devil_ , after all!  You never should have let him out!”

“Dean, we had no other choice.  You know that.  Chaos would have gotten to the two of them even if we left them in Hell.  Freeing Lucifer and Michael was our only possible option at the time.  Just like leaving Sam in heaven was the only thing we could do right now.”

“Well you seem to be damn okay with your family trapping him up there!”  Dean shouted; he was furious that he and Sam were separated and had to remain so, apparently.  And livid that Cas didn’t seem to share his concern.   

“I am.”  Cassiel responded, dangerously calm.  His voice was low and almost dangerous, as if he was warning Dean to back off just using his tone of voice.  “Dean, I know you don’t wish to be far from Sam, but think about it: right now heaven is the absolute safest place that _any of us_ could be.  It is sealed off from Chaos so she cannot enter.  Sam is safe.”

Although what Castiel said made sense, Dean still felt somewhat angry.  Really, he should have felt better with that explanation, and in a way, he somewhat did: Sam was safe, supposedly for now.  Safer than Dean was right now anyway.  But Dean wasn’t with Sam to _make sure of that_ , and that made the elder Winchester uneasy.

Castiel realized the conflict Dean was having, and put a hand on the his shoulder and squeezed lightly.  “Dean.”  He said the other’s name and waited for the hunter to look into his eyes.  “I know you’re worried about him.  But Sam will be okay.  Please worry about yourself…”  And then Cassiel felt compelled to add: “…for a change.”

Dean relaxed a little, but couldn’t bring himself to do what Cas asked.  He never worried about himself.  He was always concerned about Sam; what happened to him wasn’t important.  He didn’t matter, really.  Sam mattered, and so Sam was the one he was concerned for.

Sam…and Cas, of course.  Dean also wanted to be in heaven because it would have meant _Cas_ was in heaven.  And in heaven, Cas would be safe. 

“You sure that whatever you did with God’s blood will be enough to hide you from her?”

“I believe so, yes.” 

“Good,” Dean replied, automatically.  Castiel smiled at him, and again felt those weird yet pleasant sensations.  He wondered why they were there and what they truly meant.

What had happened between him and this human to make Cassiel so protective of him?  To make the archangel Cassiel want to hold Dean Winchester in his arms and keep him safe from all dangers?  To make him radiate a light brighter than any he had ever emanated before, one that was so powerful that it was able to drive Chaos away?  What kind of history does that sort of relationship have? 

What did it all _mean_?

Then again, Cassiel also remembered what his demon told him in Hell; that he had impersonated God.  A sin so terrible that it made the archangel wonder if – despite his confused feelings for Dean – he really did want those memories back. 

The dilemma he was having in his head must have shown on his face, because Dean suddenly looked concerned.  “…Cas?  You alright buddy?”

“Dean, when I was…Castiel…was I a good angel?”

The hunter looked taken aback, not expecting that question.  “What do you mean by that?”

“When I was in Hell…my demon said I impersonated God.  If that is true, then I must not have been a very good angel,” Cassiel said, solemnly.  He looked away from Dean, ashamed of himself. 

“Hey, hey,” Dean said, drawing Cassiel’s gaze back to him.  “You did but…let’s just say you thought you were doing the right thing.  Cas, you always only ever wanted to do what was right.  You still do.  You’re a good person, man.  You are.”

“How can I be good while impersonating God?  How is that possible?”

“Cas,” Dean sighed, not knowing how to convince the other.  “Trust me.  You’re a hero, man.  You’ve saved the world.  More than once.” 

Cassiel still looked skeptical, but after a moment, just closed his eyes and smiled, trusting in the emotions he felt towards the human.  “Very well Dean.  I’ll accept your judgment for the time being.” 

Suddenly compelled, Cassiel closed the gap between the two of them, and placed a soft kiss on Dean’s lips.  This one was similar to the last, except now Cassiel did not think it would be the last time he could possibly do this.  But it was gentle still.   Once again, Cassiel wasn’t entirely sure _why_ he felt this compulsion, but it was overwhelming and felt _nice_.  In all this Darkness in the world, kissing Dean Winchester was a small source of comfort for the angel.

Dean, of course, froze.  He could have sworn he was choking, with how his throat and chest all of a sudden felt.  Really, he didn’t know that Cas ever saw him this way before the battle at the playground, and it made Dean confused about his own feelings towards his friend.  He always had felt like Cas was more than just a friend, but he couldn’t exactly figure out the right label for the angel either.  He had called him brother before, but really…that wasn’t correct.  It was something… _different_. 

When Dean hadn’t returned the kiss, Castiel pulled back, looking worried.  “I…I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.  I should have asked-”

“No, Cas, it’s…I’m just distracted.  With all this Darkness stuff and…I mean-”

“It’s okay Dean.  I am sorry.”  Cassiel, of course, appeared a bit disappointed, but he still offered the hunter a reassuring smile.  “I won’t do it again, I promise.”

“No!  No, that’s not…”  Dean sighed.  He was blowing this, naturally.  At this point, he would rather Chaos show up than have this particular conversation with Castiel.  It was an important one and Dean felt like he was stumbling over his emotions and words.  “That’s not what I meant.”

Of course, Cas smiled.  Damn that smile of his.  Dean really wished that Cas could just _remember_ everything.  It would make this at least _a little_ easier.  Not much.  But a little.        

Cassiel must have, again, guessed Dean’s inner turmoil.  “How about this,” he said, still with that grin on his face.  (You would think the two of them _didn’t_ have one of the most powerful creatures in existence to worry about destroying, with how they were acting.)  “How about I’ll wait next time until you initiate, and if you never do…that is okay.  Dean, I want to explore what these emotions are when I look at you, but I also want _you_ to be comfortable.  When you feel ready, I would like to at least talk about them, if that is okay.  I want to…know what has happened between us in the past.”

Dean didn’t know what to say in return, so he just nodded.  “I…okay.  Sounds good, Cas.”

“How about for now we at least get out of these catacombs?” 

Cassiel grabbed onto Dean and waited for the human to nod before flying out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again so much for your comments and kudos! I really really appreciate it, especially after so many words written already!


	22. Wind of Change

“So, heaven has been closed to me again, has it?” 

Despite actually being somewhat annoyed, Chaos still had a calm demeanor about her.  Those angels were pests, though perhaps she ought to have suspected that they would close the gates to heaven’s sanctuary as soon as Lucifer wised up and left them for her.  By the time the fallen angel had given up the location, the entrance to God’s kingdom had already been sealed.  Despite this setback, however, she felt much better knowing that her child of Darkness was on her side now.   

After watching Cassiel leave, Chaos had decided to return with Lucifer and her dark angels to the library where Metatron was and Rowena had gone back to some time ago.  She looked around at her allies; agents of chaotic darkness, all of them.  It pleased her to know she had such people at her side this time around; God may have had his angels last time, but now…now Chaos had powerful players with her as well.  She was winning this time.  

“Without God, the archangels must be powering the doors shut themselves,” Metatron said, looking up from the demon tablet.  He was still giving translations over to Rowena to use; the witch had far more magical power than even the former scribe, so Chaos had instructed him to tell her everything. 

“Archangels are strong, yes, but not strong enough to hold those doors forever,” Chaos replied, feeling less aggravated than before.  “I’m patient; their time limit has already begun, and it is only a matter of time until they weaken enough for me to break through.”  She looked out a nearby window, smiling at the blackness that was covering the sky.  Seeing her Darkness fueled her and made her feel stronger; she knew that the world was plunging into a more unruly state.  Her anarchic structure had already taken root in the minds of monsters and many of the humans of the world.  All around the globe, humans were fighting amongst each other for simple things; killing and destroying for what they wanted, without any regard as to the so-called moral consequences that Yahweh had instilled into them.  Monsters were feeding more and becoming increasingly brutal and visible, showing off their strength in ways which made the goddess smile.  They took what they wanted when they wanted. 

The monsters were becoming more monstrous, and the humans were becoming more like monsters.

It was beautiful.

But it still wasn’t enough.  Chaos wanted more.  More bloodshed and mayhem.  Even still, Yahweh’s rules and light existed, and she wanted nothing more than to snuff it out.  But to do that, she had to wait for heaven to be accessible.  She needed to wipe out the remaining angels and then corrupt and darken the souls of those who had entered paradise.   

There was at least one archangel on Earth; she knew that much.  Though there was one little problem.

“The seventh…Cassiel…he has become invisible to me.  Why is that?”  She asked the room, still staring out the window. 

“The only thing I can think of that could do that is God.  Maybe they had something of his to ward Castiel against you,” Metatron answered after a few moments of silence. 

“They had some of Father’s blood, still,” Lucifer added.  “He probably was able to use that; he is hidden from me as well.”  Normally, all the angels would be connected; Lucifer would be able to find Cassiel and vice-versa, but with the latter’s warding, he wasn’t able to pinpoint his location any more than Chaos was. 

“Hmm…”  Chaos hummed a little, thinking to herself for a few moments.  “Rowena?”

The witch looked over at the goddess, curtsying slightly.  “How may I be of service?”  Lucifer couldn’t tell if Rowena was being facetious or not with how she said that.  Perhaps that was just her personality.  Not that the fallen angel cared all too much.  The witch was more interesting than normal humans, but she was still more human than he tended to like.  But Chaos seemed to respond well to it, turning and smiling at the redheaded woman.

“Send out your demons.  Tell them to find the one man called Dean Winchester.  They find him, they find the seventh.  Bring them to me.”

Rowena grinned wickedly, and clapped her hands together once.  Immediately, two demons appeared – Crowley, with his two loyal hounds by his side, and Adam, who took the time to crack his neck as soon as he showed up.  Still in their eyes was that purple magical hue which made it clear that they belonged to Rowena.

“You heard the lady,” the witch said.  “Find Dean Winchester.  Find his angel.”

The two demons bowed lowly and disappeared once again.

\-----

“You…you’re one of the angels,” the soul with Balthazar’s face said, pointing at Gabriel. 

“Guilty,” the former trickster replied with a sly smile. 

“Is something wrong?”

“You…were Balthazar’s vessel,” Sam said, before turning and whispering to Gabriel, low enough so that the man would not be able to hear him.  “We’re going to ask him?  Hasn’t he given enough already?”

But Gabriel just ignored the human, walking past him to get closer to the soul.  “James,” he sighed.  “I know heaven has already asked much of you, but we need to ask you for something else.  Something _big_.” 

James took in a deep breath.  “Oh?  Haven’t I given enough already?”  He echoed Sam’s concerns, but the soul looked more tired and forlorn than annoyed or angry.  “What is it?”

“We need your help.  Reviving Balthazar.”

“What?”  James’ eyes widened, and he even braced himself on one of the several elegant chairs in the room.  “Is that even possible?  Reviving an angel?”

“We’re honestly not sure,” Gabriel responded.  “But we need to try.  He might have some information we need in order to defeat Chaos.”

“Who’s Chaos?”  The souls had been blocked off from receiving any information from the outside, so it was no wonder that James did not know who Gabriel was referring to.  The angels left in heaven – thanks to Hannah’s strategizing – had kept them in blissful ignorance, not wanting to cause any sort of panic among them or disturb their time in their paradises.

“An ancient goddess,” Sam chimed in.  “She killed God and wants to kill all angels and enter into heaven to destroy it, from what we know.  She’s been spreading her poison across the world and if we don’t try _something_ , she’ll succeed.  Resurrecting Balthazar is our last hope, and we don’t have a lot of time.”

James stared at the human, trying to take all that information in.  “She… _killed God_?  How is that even possible?”

“She’s incredibly powerful,” Gabriel said.  “Under her rule, everything will be…well, chaotic.  Monsters will reign and life will be nasty.  Heaven will become dark and corrupted, and these individual paradises will cease to exist.”

“How are you supposed to use _me_ to revive Balthazar?” 

“I figured since you were his vessel, you and he share a connection of sorts.  We would use your soul to try and purify the dark taint that runs through him and restore his angelic light and grace.”  Gabriel paused for a moment, examining James’ expression, which still appeared puzzled.  Good.  Not angry or annoyed for now, and that was good enough for Gabriel.  “Only thing is…we’re not sure what would happen to you.  To your soul.  This is something I’ve never seen or tried before, so for all we know, your soul will end up destroyed in the process.”

“I see,” James said quietly, taking in a deep breath. 

“Listen, James,” Sam said.  “I know it is big, what we’re asking.  But…if we do nothing, then Chaos _will_ get into heaven and destroy _everything_.  Everyone will be killed, including any loved ones you might have up here too.”  Sam knew he was being somewhat manipulative, but that was the point; they needed James to agree to do this, and so Sam would not hesitate to use any argument he could think of.

The soul was quiet for a minute, before going over to a nearby table and pouring himself some scotch.  He immediately drank all of the liquid, and poured again.  “So,” he said, holding onto the glass.  “I’m the one to be the sacrifice?” 

Gabriel and Sam exchanged a worried look, watching as James again downed the remainder of his drink.  Maybe this wasn’t going to work.  What would they do then?  Just run around heaven asking random souls to leave their paradises to go resurrect an angel?  They didn’t exactly have a lot of time.  Dean and Cas were still down there, and needed help.  Sam felt himself beginning to panic. 

But then James set down his glass and walked over to the pair. 

“I guess there are worse fates.  Paradise has gotten overrated anyway.”

Sam couldn’t help the relieved smile that came across his face.  “Thank you, James.”

Gabriel also smiled, and then grabbed each of their arms and teleported back to the sanctuary.

\-----

When Castiel landed on the ground again, he did not let go of Dean right away.  His hand lingered on the other’s shoulder, and the archangel wanted nothing more than to pull the human in closer to him.  But he had promised Dean that he wouldn’t do anything else, and that he would wait for the hunter to feel comfortable enough to initiate.  So, he took a step away, a small smile on his face.

Against his own better judgment, he brought Dean back to Lebanon, Kansas.  Specifically for one reason.

“Baby!”  Dean’s face lit up when he spotted the Impala, still parked in the area where the battle between Chaos and God and their armies had taken place.  It was amazing, really, that nothing happened to the car, but like the Winchesters, the Impala was resilient.  Castiel knew how much Dean loved his car, and had wanted to make the other happy.  It was nice to see Dean smile so widely given these dark times.  Cassiel knew they were close to Chaos’ location, but he also felt confident that the two of them were sufficiently warded against her. 

“I suggest we don’t linger here too long, Dean.”  Although Castiel didn’t want to spoil this happy reunion, he also knew that even though they were protected against the goddess, she had ways of finding who and what she desired. 

“Right, right.  But let’s drive, okay?  We’ll head off to a motel in another city.  The bunker might not be the best idea right now.  It’s too close.”  Plus, really, Dean just wanted to drive.  He’d been teleported around via angels too much lately, and having his set of wheels back made him feel already more in control.   

“Alright Dean.”  Cassiel got into the front passenger’s seat, watching as Dean sat in the driver’s position and smiled.  The human really did love his car, and the angel was happy that he was able to reunite the two.   

Dean wasted no time in starting the Impala up and getting on the road, and it was a nice change of pace for the both of them.  In the Impala, things did not seem so urgent.  Despite the blackness in the sky, things already seemed more comfortable.  Like they had done this so many times before, and Chaos was just another monster that they were hunting.

Glancing over at Castiel, Dean couldn’t help but notice the way the angel was staring out at the road.  He almost looked… _fascinated_.  Cas looked calm and at peace, and that was something Dean rarely saw nowadays.  It made his stomach do a weird flip, and Dean cursed himself for the reaction.  What was he, some schoolboy with a crush? 

… _Was_ he some schoolboy with a crush? 

“Say, Cas?” 

“Yes Dean?”

“Could I ask you something?”

“Of course,” Cas replied, suddenly looking very serious.

“How…if you don’t remember anything, how do you have any feelings for me?  Shouldn’t you just…not remember me at all?”  Dean stumbled over the words as he tried to get the question out.  He could feel his face become warm, and he wasn’t really sure why he wanted to know the answer to that. 

“I’m not sure, Dean.  Really, it doesn’t make sense.  I can’t remember our past together, but when I look at you…I want to protect you.  And I just feel…happy when you are near.  And scared when you’re in trouble.  These feelings…I had some of them before my Father made me Castiel.  But…you cause them to be so much _stronger_.  I always wanted to protect humanity, but now I have a specific human I wish to look out for and save from…anything that would dare to hurt him.”

Dean couldn’t fathom _why_ Cas would feel like that towards him.  Although they had history together (a history which the angel couldn’t even _remember_ , frustratingly), Dean knew he hadn’t been as attentive to Cas and his problems in the past as perhaps he should have been.  He was so occupied with the mark and Abaddon and the trials and keeping Sam safe that he ended up ignoring Cas more than he wanted in the past two years.  The angel deserved more than him. 

“Cas, listen…”

“Dean, we do not need to discuss this now.  I said that we could talk about these things when you were comfortable, or when this was all over.  I’m getting the feeling that you’re not exactly comfortable with this conversation.”

Dean sighed.  Of course he wasn’t comfortable.  But it wasn’t for the reason that Castiel was probably thinking.  “Cas, it’s just…we’ve been through a ton together and I only am just finding out now, after your memories were taken away, that you had…deeper feelings for me.  I just…wish I knew why you didn’t say anything sooner.”

Cassiel stared at the other, not expecting those words from the human.

“Me too, Dean.”     

\-----

Gabriel flew Sam and James back to his Father’s cabin in the sanctuary, where the practically-lifeless Balthazar was still standing in a circle of holy fire.  His dark and hollow eyes startled James at first, but then the soul just walked towards the edge of the fire, and stared at the dark angel. 

“I remember him, you know.  He was…interesting, if that’s the right word to use,” James said quietly.  Gabriel left the room momentarily, flying out with a bowl that he grabbed from a nearby table.  When the archangel returned, the bowl was filled with water, and he poured the liquid over the circle of fire.  It slowly diminished until it disappeared completely, leaving only smoke and black scorch marks on the wood floor. 

“Do you know what you’re doing?”  Sam quietly asked Gabriel, still watching James as the soul walked closer to Balthazar’s form. 

“Nope, not at all.  But here’s hoping something goes right for once.”

After a few more moments of silence, James took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he closed his eyes.  “Okay,” he said.  “I’m ready.” 

Sam heard Gabriel begin chanting in Enochian, and the soul began to glow brightly.  The human shape disappeared, instead becoming a small wisp of light.  The glow became more intense as Gabriel continued speaking, forcing Sam to squint his eyes due to the light enveloping the room.  The soul slowly wrapped around Balthazar’s form, and then entered his body through his mouth. 

At first, nothing happened.

“Did it work?”  Sam asked, feeling somewhat discouraged when Balthazar did not move. 

“I-”  Just as Gabriel was about to answer, Balthazar’s hollow and dark eyes closed.  When they opened again, they were white.  The archangel grabbed Sam and pulled the hunter under his large wings, to shield him from the blinding burst of energy and _light_ which came from Balthazar.  It was overwhelming even for Gabriel, who had to use his own arm to protect his eyes.  There was no sound to accompany the beam which then soared from the dark angel, which was black at first.  But the soul’s wispy form encircled it, and the beam became that blue-white color associated with grace.  The grace absorbed the soul before pouring back into Balthazar’s mouth, causing his body to collapse onto the floor.

Once Gabriel knew it was safe for Sam again, he let the human go, and the two of them rushed over to the unconscious angel, kneeling down on either side of him.

“Well… _something_ happened,” Gabriel said, as Sam shook Balthazar’s shoulder.

When Balthazar opened his eyes, they were blue.  He spoke the last word he said before he died.

“…Cas…”


	23. We've Only Just Begun

Sam and Gabriel helped Balthazar to his feet, but the newly revived angel immediately stumbled, having to lean on his older brother for extra support.  It was obvious that he was feeling very weak, and so Gabriel helped him over to the nearby couch.  Balthazar sat down, closing his eyes momentarily. 

“You guys missed little ol’ me that much, huh?”  He opened his eyes again and flashed the two of them a smile.  “Glad to hear it,” he said, without waiting for a response from either one of them.  “I thought you were dead too,” Balthazar observed, his eyes fixed on Gabriel.

“Long story.  I’ll tell you about it some other time,” Gabriel replied, grinning.  He hadn’t been expecting their plan to actually _work_ , so now that he was standing in front of a resurrected Balthazar he felt hopeful again.  He had been losing that optimism and belief that they could actually win against Chaos, so this was a big win in his eyes.  

Sam walked over and sat on the couch next to the angel, who then looked around, expecting a second person.  “Where’s your brother?  Aren’t you two attached at the hip?”

“He’s trapped on Earth since the gates had to be shut…Balthazar, what do you remember from your time being dead?”

“Wow, you won’t even let me get settled, will you?”  Balthazar joked.  He weakly stood, refusing help when Gabriel offered it, and slowly walked over to a table which was holding a bottle of whiskey and some glasses.  He poured himself a drink, and leaned on the wall as he held onto the glass. 

“You should sit down,” Sam said, looking worried.  But Balthazar shook his head.

“Nah.  Have to get used to this body again, might as well start now.”  He took a sip from his glass, letting out an audible sigh after swallowing, as if he was relishing the taste.  “Oh, I missed this stuff.”

“Balthazar, listen, we don’t have a lot of time.”  Sam was getting impatient.

“I know, I know.  The _Darkness_ and all that.  You want my help?”  Another sip.  “I guess I can tell you what I remember, since you brought me back and all.”  Suddenly, the angel looked serious and forlorn.  “There’s honestly not too much to tell, sorry to say.  All I really remember was blackness.  Constant blackness.  Whatever she wanted us to do, we did.  But it wasn’t forced…it was as if we were _part_ of her.  Like an extension.  Extra limbs, maybe.  It is weird to describe.” 

“That’s it?”  Sam asked, looking more discouraged by the second.  What Balthazar was giving them wasn’t exactly useful for them.  It didn’t really give an insight into Chaos’ _mind_ or what could defeat her.    

“No, that’s not it,” Balthazar responded, annoyed at being interrupted.  “I also remember the battle.  When God was there.  When he was around, there was a really bright light.  Brighter than anything I’ve ever seen.  It…it was painful.  Made me feel smaller.  The archangels and angels had lights too but they weren’t as intense.  They didn’t hurt the way God’s did.”

“So it sounds like we just need to find something that could produce the same amount of light and energy as Dad.  _Great_.”  Gabriel sighed and turned away, feeling his hopelessness return.  Maybe reviving Balthazar was not the win that he had originally thought it was. 

“What about the weapons?”

Gabriel turned back around to face Balthazar, while Sam perked up.  “The…weapons?  You mean… _the_ weapons?”  The hunter asked; he had completely forgotten about those.  

“No, genius, the other weapons,” Balthazar said, rolling his eyes.  “Yes of course _the_ weapons.  Heaven’s arsenal.  Why not use those?”

“I thought they were lost,” Gabriel said, a quizzical look on his face.  Balthazar just shook his head, smirking. 

“Not to me, unless Cassie moved some of them around after he…”  The angel trailed off, looking sad for a moment.  He didn’t want to remember his death, when his friend betrayed him and stabbed him in the back…literally.  Balthazar had been worried about the path Castiel was on, and was rewarded for his concern with death.  It was an upsetting moment which left him slightly bitter. 

But it hurt so much because of how much he still – surprisingly – adored Castiel.

“They’re scattered,” he continued.  “Across heaven and Earth, and in the universe.  I kept them separated and protected just in case Raphael or one of his cronies found any of them.  Didn’t want him getting the whole arsenal.”

Sam looked at Gabriel.  “So, will these weapons do the trick, do you think?”

“They’re imbued with our Father’s power.  Individually, they’re the strongest arms that heaven has to offer.  When they’re _together_ , it is like Dad Himself is around.  They create an energy that is beyond anything that any of us could possibly produce, even the seven archangels.”  He paused.  “I like this idea.  You remember where they are?”

Balthazar nodded.  “Again, unless Cas changed their locations on me, but I doubt he had time, given how he was trying to figure out a way into purgatory when I gave them to him.” 

“So what are we looking for?”  Sam asked, curiously. 

“There are seven weapons in total.  The Staff of Moses, Lot’s Salt, the Horn of this guy, the Ark of the Covenant, the Fate-Killing Blade, the Spear of Destiny, and David’s Sling,” Gabriel listed, counting each of them on his fingers.  “I’d be able to find the horn, since it’s mine, after all, but after that I would have had no idea where to start looking.”  

“Hence, me.”  Balthazar smiled as he took another sip of his drink.  “Glad you brought me back yet?”

“Yes,” Sam said, without hesitation.  “Yes, I am.”

\-----

After several hours of driving, Dean decided to finally stop at a motel for the night, explaining to Cas how he needed his four hours.  The archangel had just tilted his head when hearing that statement; of course…Cas didn’t remember that particular conversation.  Dean just clarified that he needed to sleep. 

“Of course, Dean.”

The hunter stopped at a motel in the nearby area, checking them into a room with two beds.  He plopped his stuff down and then collapsed on one of them, his face hitting the pillow hard.  Just as he was about to pass out though, he felt Cas sit on the same bed, right next to him.

“Cas, you know, you have your own bed,” he mumbled.

“I don’t need one.  I don’t sleep.”  Castiel had picked up one of Dean’s bags and started rummaging through it; each and every thing he picked out fascinated him.  He grabbed John’s journal and flipped through it, stopping to read some of the pages more carefully.  “Did you write this?”

“My dad,” Dean clarified. 

“His handwriting is beautiful,” Cassiel said, echoing a sentiment that Castiel had expressed years ago.  Dean remembered that evening well; it was when Cas confided in him that he was thinking about killing himself due to the devastation he caused in heaven.  How he did not want to see the pain he had caused in his quest for power.  Dean remembered being both horrified and worried when his best friend told him that, yet he wasn’t sure how to comfort Castiel at all.  He wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of mental health, and so trying to help someone – even his angel – who had been feeling like that was not something that the hunter felt qualified in doing.

“Thanks Cas,” he said, but then smiled a little.  Because even with that horrible memory, Cassiel was continuing to show how he was still Cas, despite his lost memories.  And that made Dean happy to think about, even amongst all the crap that was going on in the world.  He decided to sit up a little more just so he could touch the angel’s shoulder gently.  “For everything, really.” 

Castiel turned at stared into Dean’s eyes, sporting a small yet truly joyful grin.  It made Dean’s face heat up, and he couldn’t help but glance down at his friend’s slightly chapped lips.  They were always slightly chapped, Dean had noticed over the years.  Maybe a weird thing to pick up on, but then again, it weren’t as if Dean and Castiel and their situation were _normal_.  Weird kind of summarized them. 

“Dean?”  The hunter snapped out of his trance when Cassiel said his name; he had still been staring at the angel’s lips.  _Goddammit Dean_.  Their faces were so close together, but Cas had kept his word and did not move to kiss the other.  He promised that he would wait, and wait he shall.  Dean, meanwhile, thought about how the angel’s lips had felt, and part of him wanted to feel them again.  He moved closer, so close that he could feel Castiel’s breath on his mouth. 

But then he chickened out.  He pulled away and lay back down; he turned away from Cas so his back was facing the angel.  This was too much for him right now.  Too embarrassing and his heart was beating too fast and Cas’ eyes were too fucking blue and _how could Cas have feelings for him?_ The thought still didn’t make sense, especially given Dean’s own opinion of himself.  “Night Cas.  Wake me in four hours.”

Castiel at first was disappointed when Dean pulled away from him, but then he just smiled and laughed a little.  Dean’s face gave him away, but Cassiel didn’t push him.  “Alright Dean, I will.”

As Dean slept, Cassiel continued to look through John Winchester’s notebook.  It really was beautiful, and he found the words and drawings and _everything_ about it to be so fascinating.  And he did not get up from his spot on Dean’s bed.

Unfortunately, that feeling of safety and comfort disappeared all of a sudden, when Castiel felt the presence of demons nearby.  How did they get so close without him sensing them earlier?  He got up, staring at the door.  Maybe he could take care of this without waking up Dean…it hadn’t been four hours yet…

But when the doors swung open, the hunter – true to his instincts – stirred from his light sleep and leapt from his bed, grabbing his gun from the side table.  He walked over to Castiel, and stood in front of him, weapon raised. 

Darkness crept into the room first, but it was obvious to Cassiel that the goddess was not accompanying it.  Instead, two familiar demons walked through the doorway after it, with the shadows swirling around them.  Their eyes were glowing purple still…this was still the work of the demon tablet’s magic, the archangel knew.  And a very _very_ powerful witch, whom Chaos had strengthened.

“How did you find us?”  Dean demanded to know, growling lowly. 

“Darling squirrel,” Crowley said; despite being under his mother’s control, he still had his own personality, it seemed.  “You really ought to drive a less distinctive car when you’re on the run.  Gives you away.”  

“Really, we’re not here for both of you.  Just him,” Adam said, pointing at Cassiel.  “So if you’ll move aside, _bro_ , this will all be easier.”

“The hell I will.  Who do you think I am?”  Dean shouted, blocking more of Castiel with his own body.  Despite the power discrepancy between him and the angel, Dean still felt protective over his best friend.  He had lost him too many times, and he wasn’t about to let him go again without a fight.   

“I think you’re someone who will screw everyone else over for your own selfish needs.  I mean, you and your brother _are_ responsible for the boss getting loose and causing all this in the first place,” Adam retorted while snarling. 

Dean shot him, but of course it did nothing.  Adam just sighed, and began to take a step towards the pair.  Dean heard the snarling of hounds as well, and tensed up, expecting to be pounced on any minute now.  Surprisingly though, Crowley put his arm up to stop the Knight of Hell.

“Not a good idea.  You really think the two of us can take on an archangel?  Our mission was to find him.  And we did.  So now we can go.”  Crowley calmly explained, while Adam stared incredulously at him.  

“But-”

“You wanna die?  Be my guest.”

Adam cursed and gave one last look to Dean and Cas, before following Crowley out the door.  With the demons, the darkness went as well.  The human and angel pair just watched; they felt like something was wrong.

“We need to get out of here-” Cas had started saying, but before either could do anything, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through their window.  Castiel grabbed onto Dean and pushed the human to the ground.  He fell on top of him to shield Dean from the blast of fire that erupted and quickly enveloped the room. 

Dean felt dizzy for a moment.  Dizzy and hot and his ears were ringing thanks to the incredibly loud sound of the blast.  He remembered Cas dropping down on top of him but didn’t feel the angel’s weight anymore.  Dean weakly pushed himself off the floor and looked around, coughing a little thanks to the smoke and embers.  His clothes had been burned slightly, but overall, he was okay. 

Then, when the buzzing in his ears stopped, he heard it. 

Castiel was screaming.

Dean looked over to see his angel covered in burn marks.  None of them were healing.

The demons had used holy fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is short and lacking; I had a lot of trouble with it for some reason but wanted to get something out for you guys! Thanks for all the support and love and comments! <3


	24. Living on a Prayer

Fire swirled throughout the room, but all Dean was focused on was his angel.  Despite the roaring crackles of the flames around him, all Dean could _hear_ was Castiel’s screams.  He called out the other’s name, coughing a little, but Cas didn’t seem to hear him over his own voice.  Where the hell did the demons obtain the oil necessary to produce holy fire?  Dean could only guess that it had something to do with Chaos and her band of misfits.  In other words – they had to get out of here, and fast.  There was no way the goddess was not going to show up if they couldn’t get out soon.  But angels could not pass through holy fire, and it was _everywhere_. 

“Hang on Cas, I got you,” Dean said, allowing one of his hands to touch an area on Castiel that was not burned.  The angel’s screams stopped at the touch, transforming into agonized groans.  Dean stood and looked around, using his own arms to shield his face from any wayward embers that might hit him.  The door was completely encased in angry flames; there was no way he was going to be able to pull Cas that way.

The window was his only shot.  But even then, the curtains surrounding the window were on fire; Dean would need to be careful with Cas; he didn’t want to cause the angel any more agony than he was already in. 

Despite the heat radiating from it, Dean grabbed his gun.  The metal was hot on his skin, burning into it as soon as he touched it, but Dean fought against the pain, refusing to drop the weapon.  Not until he emptied his clip into the glass of the window, creating small bullet holes close together.  Not enough to completely shatter the thing, but Dean hoped that the shots would weaken the windowpane enough so that he _could_ break it with something else.

Once he finished firing, Dean allowed the gun to drop from his hands, which had already begun to blister from the burns.  Again, though, he had to ignore it, and listening to Cas’ groans was his primary motivation; the angel would die if they stayed here, Dean knew.  Whether by the roaring angelic fire in this room or by Chaos herself paying them a visit, Cas would die if they didn’t get out as soon as possible. 

And Dean wasn’t about to let that happen.

The human grabbed onto one of the chairs by the motel’s provided round table, one that luckily the fires had not touched.  He swung it around once before chucking it into the window, in the spot where the bullet holes were. 

The glass shattered.

Despite there being no time to celebrate, Dean couldn’t help but smile a little.  Now he just had to grab Cas and get out of there.  He rushed over and knelt down at his best friend’s side.  Castiel’s eyes were closed. 

“Cas?  Hey, Cas!”  But the angel did not stir.  Dean felt some panic rush over him; did he take too long?  No, no Cas had to just be unconscious.  That was it.  The guy had lived through so much shit and came out the other side; he was not going to die thanks to some stupid Molotov cocktail of holy oil. 

Quickly, Dean maneuvered Castiel onto his shoulders, grimacing a little from the added weight.  As quickly as possible, Dean made his way to the now open window, making sure to avoid flames whenever possible.  They seemed like they were getting stronger and more ferocious, as though they would explode at any minute.  Careful to steer clear of the curtains, Dean crawled through, coughing violently once he felt his lungs take in fresh air.  He allowed himself two seconds to catch his breath again, before rushing over to the Impala.  He had also made sure to look around for the two demons, but they seemed to have left, probably thinking that their plan was successful in trapping the human and angel in that motel room.   

Dean pulled the back seat door open, and – despite the urgency he was dealing with – delicately placed Castiel in the back seat.  He didn’t want to upset the angel’s burns or anything.  However, just as he was about to close the door, Cas’ blue eyes fluttered open slowly, and he looked over to Dean with a tired expression. 

“Dean…”

“Cas!  Cas, don’t worry, we’re going to get out of here-”

“She’s coming.  I can feel her.”

Dean looked around; nothing seemed particularly different to him at the moment.  But Cas had a sense that he obviously did not, and if the angel said Chaos was on her way, then Dean knew he had to be quicker.  “Don’t worry Cas, I’ll get you out of here…”

“Dean-”  Before the human could close the door and get into the driver’s seat, Cas grabbed onto his hand.  Dean wasn’t able to do anything before Castiel had teleported them out of the area, landing in a monastery that had been abandoned years ago.  They each landed on their feet at first, but Castiel had used up the last of his strength to get them there, his wings having been injured in the fire.  The angel felt dizzy, and began to collapse.

“Cas!”  Dean caught Castiel before the latter could hit the ground, and slowly slunk down with the angel in his arms.  He called out Castiel’s name again, but those blue eyes did not open.  The angel had passed out. 

Dean wondered: What could he do now?  

\-----

“So, the locations of the weapons,” Balthazar said, taking a sip of his drink.  “Some on Earth, others in heaven, and one is buried on a particularly annoying planet out in space.  Most are in heaven, luckily.  At least, from last I know,” he explained looking sad for a moment.  He was still thinking about his end, which he clearly remembered.  But he also knew that he couldn’t dwell on that now.  As much as Balthazar enjoyed a little bedlam, the chaotic forces that the ancient goddess was unleashing on the world were not something he was looking forward to.  He liked living, really.  He was grateful that he was once again alive.

“Which are where?”  Sam asked, listening intently.  He wasn’t sure how he himself could help acquire the weapons, since he was only human, but he figured he would help in whatever way the angels deemed necessary. 

“The two pieces of the Staff and Lot’s Salt are safely in the vault, but there’s a catch.  Cassie put a spell on it so that only he would be able to access it; if any angel other than Cas tries to take the weapons from the vault, they…well let’s just say it won’t be pretty.”  When Gabriel gave him a look, Balthazar just laughed.  “I’m guessing no one has tried to open it since Cas’ little stunt with purgatory.  Probably for the best, then.”

“What about a human?”

Gabriel and Balthazar looked over at Sam, both with surprised looks on their faces. 

“What?”

“You said that the vault is closed to angels other than Cas.  What if a human accessed it instead?”  Sam continued, clarifying himself.  “I mean, if it does do something to me, what’s the worst that could happen?  I’m already in heaven, so…what, I’ll just go to a different part of it or something?” 

“Assuming you belong in heaven, I suppose,” Balthazar replied, obviously joking.  Though judging from Sam’s face, the hunter didn’t really appreciate the humor at his expense.  “That…could work.  Why not try it?  We’re down to desperate acts, aren’t we?”

Gabriel just nodded.  “Don’t worry Sam, we’ll make sure nothing bad happens to you.”  Although Gabriel _did_ mean that sincerely, the way he said it – while smiling and laughing a little – made Sam feel like he _too_ was joking.  Why did he have to get stuck with the too humorous-type angels?       

“Gabriel, I _assume_ you know where your horn is; Cas could hide that thing from anyone except you.”

“Yep.  I sense it around.  I’ll make sure to get it,” Gabriel responded confidently. 

“The Ark of the Covenant is the one buried on another planet.  I know the coordinates and precisely where it is because I buried it there myself.  So I’ll make sure to grab that one,” Balthazar said, finishing the last of his drink.  “And then David’s Sling is hidden in a particular personal heaven.  We might have to enlist someone for that; I never was very popular with the souls.”

“We could ask Hannah,” Sam interjected. 

“Agreed.  She’s been the boss for some time anyway, and seems to get along find with the souls.  We’ll just have to go grab her; I think she’s watching over Ramiel and Raguel as they power the door shut.”  Gabriel looked slightly worried when mentioning his archangel sisters; the two of them were extremely powerful especially when together, but they must have been growing tired.  And if they lost too much strength, Chaos would be able to force the door open and push past them.

“Those are the last of the weapons not on Earth.  The Fate-Killing Sword and the Spear of Destiny are there, which we can’t get to.”

“But Cas and Dean _can_.  We just need to let them know.”

“Right.  I’ll send a message out on angel radio.  It’ll keep repeating until Cas hears it.  When he sends something back, Balthazar, you let him know where those last two weapons are.” 

“But Cas should know-”  Balthazar started.

“It’s a long story, which I don’t have time right now to tell, but trust me when I say he won’t remember them.  Just let him know the locations.”  Gabriel then turned to Sam.  “While he’s out getting the Ark of the Covenant, we should go get Hannah.”

“So I’ll just go get that now, will I?  Fine,” Balthazar sighed, pouring himself one last drink and downing it in one shot.  He then gave a small wave and a smirk and disappeared, but not before saying: “Let’s trap us a goddess.”

Sam nodded and stepped closer to Gabriel.  The archangel put a hand on the hunter’s shoulder and flew, headed back to the gate.   

\-----

Darkness mixed with fire as Chaos approached the motel, which was still burning.  At her sides was her witch and fallen angel, but the two of them stayed outside while the goddess entered the building.  The fire did nothing to her, and actually seemed to die down a little when her shadows came into contact with the flames.  She inspected the area, noticing some blood on the carpet and the abandoned gun on the floor.  The human must have dropped this one, she thought, while looking out at the window.  The glass has been broken; that was how the two made their escape.  But how they were able to get out before she arrived was beginning to grate on her. 

She was not one to underestimate her enemies, but these two were proving to be a bigger thorn in her side than she thought they would have. 

“They’re gone,” she said exiting through the flaming door.  She dusted herself off and walked past Rowena and Lucifer, staring into the sky. 

“That’s…not possible,” Rowena said, looking flabbergasted.  “Fergus used holy fire…that should have trapped the angel.”

“Perhaps we should stop believing this angel to be like all the others.  He is…different.  The seventh has proven to be quite…capable.”  Capable and potentially dangerous to her plans.  “He was always full of light and quite strong, but something has changed about him.  He seems like an explosive, waiting to go off but not knowing when the detonation is going to occur.”

She turned again to face Rowena and Lucifer, who both appeared to be slightly confused.  How could one archangel cause the ancient goddess to feel…insecure?  Certainly, she didn’t look as though she was overly worried, but she could feel that Cassiel was going to be a problem, even when he wasn’t here.  What happened in hell was still on her mind; that light…it was incredible.  How could one archangel produce that?  She kept asking herself that question.

“If I could continue requesting your assistance,” Chaos said, once again highlighting that – despite her incredible power – the decision to help her was _their_ choice, “I would request that you keep searching for him.  On Earth, finding Cassiel is the highest of priorities until those two sisters powering the gates weaken enough.  I’ve been pushing at the gate more and more, and I can tell that their strength is waning.  It is only a matter of time until they cannot hold me back anymore.” 

“And what about Dean Winchester?  What should we do with him?”  Rowena asked, mentally making a note that she would have to tighten the reigns on her son and other demons; she didn’t think they would just up and _leave_ when they had the angel and hunter right within their grasp! 

“I preferred not to harm him in the beginning.  He would excel in my world, as I’ve said in the past.  But, it seems as though Dean Winchester has a greater role in all of this than I originally thought, I admit.  His fate is tied to Cassiel, and may have an influence on the seventh.  How, I’m not entirely sure.”  She sighed and crossed her arms.  “He may be used as leverage.  If you can, capture Dean Winchester and bring him to me.  His angel will follow.”

Rowena and Lucifer nodded.  The fallen angel disappeared and the witch walked past the goddess and back into the shadows. 

Chaos remained standing in her spot, looking up into the black sky and thinking.     

Cassiel’s light had reminded her of God’s.

\-----

Gabriel brought Sam back to the gates, landing just a few feet away from Hannah, Raguel, and Ramiel.  The latter two did not open their eyes or move; Gabriel knew that they had to remain concentrated on their task.  Any movement would break that, and would allow the Darkness to seep through.  So, he instead focused his attention on Hannah, who had turned to look at him when he approached her.

“Gabriel?  What are you-”

“We need your help, Hannah,” he interrupted. 

“Shouldn’t I stay and make sure that the gates are protected…just in case?”  She didn’t want to say what exactly the ‘just in case’ implied, but her expression was pessimistic at best.  “These two aren’t going to last too much longer; Chaos’ Darkness is pounding on the doors…I can feel it, and they are doing their best to keep her at bay.” 

“Hannah, we figured out a plan.  We revived Balthazar using a soul.  We asked him, so please don’t get mad,” he added once her face contorted in anger and judgment.  “But he knows where the weapons are.  _All seven of them_.  Hannah, we still have a shot.”

She seemed to perk up at that.  “Why do you need my help, though?” 

Sam took a step forward.  “We need you to find David’s Sling.  Balthazar said it is hidden in a personal heaven.  He didn’t say which one, but…”

“I’ll find it,” she said, confidently.  Sam seemed surprised; not because he didn’t have faith in Hannah, but because _how many personal heavens existed_?  There had to be billions, at the very least.  How could Hannah find those so quickly?  “I’ll return here after I locate it,” she continued, looking back at Ramiel and Raguel with a concerned expression on her face.   

“Alright,” Gabriel said with a smile.  He was relieved thanks to Hannah’s reaction, despite knowing that they weren’t exactly out of the woods just yet.  They still, after all, had to actually _find_ all the weapons and then put them all in one place to active them.  And even still, they had to figure out the best way to use them in order to once again trap Chaos.

And then that didn’t even get into who would hold the key once her prison was secure.

But Gabriel knew that they couldn’t think that far ahead.  Not right now, when they weren’t even sure they would make it to tomorrow.  One step at a time…and luckily, the steps they were currently taking gave reason to be hopeful.      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for the long wait for this one! I've been dealing with some writer's block and sickness. Hopefully it has passed though and more frequent updates will occur again!


	25. Sweet Child O' Mine

_Castiel quickly rushed out of the building at the man’s behest, despite that he could have easily handled anything thrown at them.  He was, after all, an angel.  But he just ran out with the man, half expecting to then get yelled at for the commotion he caused with that young lady (even though all he was trying to do was make her feel_ better _).  Instead, though, when he looked, the man with the green eyes was bent over, laughing._

_“What’s so funny?”  He asked, not exactly understanding the humor that came out of this particular situation._

_“Oh, nothing.  It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed that hard.”  The man replied with a bright and beautiful smile.  And even though Castiel still did not understand the joke, he smiled as well._

_He liked making the man with the green eyes look so happy._

_The scene changed._

_Castiel still felt guilty.  For what he had done on Earth and in heaven, and the monsters he unleashed into the world.  When the man wanted his help in defeating the leader, Castiel was hesitant.  He didn’t think he would be able to do much.  Hell, he’d probably_ hurt _their chances of winning._

_“I’m not good luck…”  He said the man’s name, but it came out as a garbled mess._

_“Yeah, but you know what?  Bottom of the ninth, and you’re the only guy left on the bench… Sorry but I’d rather have you, cursed or not.  And anyway, nut up, alright?  We’re all cursed.  I seem like good luck to you?”  The man had said, and although Castiel did not understand the reference that he was making – it was from some sort of human pastime, if he remembered correctly – he still smiled.  The man noticed his altered expression.  “What?”_

_“Well, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I detect a note of forgiveness,” Castiel replied, unable to stop himself from smiling._

_Before the green-eyed human could say anything in response, Castiel fell through the floor.  He fell and fell until he landed in a forest next to a small lake.  But he wasn’t on Earth anymore, he knew that much.  The man was standing in front of him, a vampire at his side.  Castiel immediately felt a pang of distrust towards the monster, but his focus stayed on the human._

_He was angry that Castiel left.  And why shouldn’t he be?  Castiel made sure to run as soon as they arrived in order to keep as many Leviathan away from the man as possible.  He didn’t exactly leave with any sort of explanation.  So, he tried to explain himself now._

_“I have a price of my head, and I’ve been trying to stay one step ahead of them, to…to keep them away from you.  That’s why I ran.  Just leave me, please.”  As much as Castiel missed his friend, he would rather have him safe.  And the man was safer without an angel by his side right now._

_But instead of leaving, the man stood there, looking both touched and surprised at Castiel’s explanation.  And even though his vampire companion began explaining the escape hatch, Castiel knew that he didn’t even want to go through it.  He needed to stay here.  To repent.  It was where he belonged, to atone for his sins._

_“We’ll figure it out.  Cas, buddy, I need you,” the man said, and Castiel couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth about his wanting to stay.  Again, he said the man’s name, but this time no sound came out.  The human just continued: “And if Leviathan want to take a shot at us, let ‘em.  We ganked those bitches once before.  We can do it again.”_

_“It’s too dangerous,” Castiel responded, hoping for once last chance to make the man just go without him._

_“Let me bottom-line it for you,” the human said, his green eyes defiant.  “I’m not leaving here without you.  Understand?”_

_Although Castiel really wished that his friend hadn’t said that…that he would have just left him, he couldn’t help but feel a little happy.  The green-eyed man needed him, he had said.  The green-eyed man cared about him, willing to stay in this land of abominations if he did not leave.  Castiel still knew that he would stay, but for now, he would go with his human to make sure he at least got back safely._

_“I understand.”_

\-----

Cassiel woke up with an audible gasp.  His arms and wings and parts of his face and legs were hurting badly; he remembered pushing Dean down onto the floor, and then fire.  Holy fire.  Holy fire that burned into his skin and feathers and grace, causing a searing pain that he was usually quite unfamiliar with as an angel.  He could now feel his grace trying to repair the wounds, but healing these burns was going to take longer than usual. 

He looked around; why did he bring them to this particular monastery?  It was abandoned, and yet Cassiel had felt drawn to it.  It had some power, but the angel couldn’t figure out exactly what that power was at the moment.

“Cas!” 

Cassiel looked over at the doorway, and saw Dean rushing over.  The hunter had some things in his arms, but dropped them all once he saw that Castiel was awake.  He knelt down by his side, and his hand hovered around the angel’s shoulder; Dean was slightly afraid of touching Cas because he didn’t want to upset any of his burns.  When Cassiel looked up at Dean, he noticed that those green eyes were the same ones from the man in his dreams. 

Was Dean that man he kept seeing?

“I didn’t know what I should do while you were out, so I went looking for some stuff,” Dean said before Castiel could reflect on that thought for much longer.  “I uh…had to run out but there was a store nearby and I just got some paper towels and some cold water.  Usually cold water helps ease the pain of burns.  I would’ve got more stuff but I didn’t want to leave you alone for too long.”  Dean walked over to grab the towels and water bottles he dropped and brought them back over to Castiel.  He again knelt by the angel’s side, and poured some of the cool water on a sheet and gently pressed it to one of the burns on Cassiel’s arm. 

After wincing once from the initial touch, Castiel relaxed.  “It…is better…thank you, Dean.”  He smiled, and he could have sworn Dean’s face went slightly red before the human turned away to prep another paper towel.  This next one went on Castiel’s face, and Dean couldn’t stop his hand from lingering on the angel’s cheek for slightly longer than it should have.

“Don’t do that again, Cas,” Dean said, very serious all of a sudden.  Cas just tilted his head, confused.

“What do you mean?”

“You jumped on top of me to save me,” Dean responded.  When Castiel gave him an exasperated look – because there is no situation he could think of where he _wouldn’t_ want to protect Dean from danger – Dean sighed.  “I’m serious.  You’re needed to fight Chaos, alright?  You’re needed more than me.  You can’t go risking yourself like that for anyone.”

“Dean, you are needed.”

“No, Cas, I’m not, and that’s…”  Dean faded a little; he was going to say ‘okay’ but he wasn’t sure if that captured his frustration with being unable to really do anything.  “Look, I’ve just been baggage for you, alright?  And now, cause of me, you’re hurt.”

“I’m not hurt because of you, Dean,” Cas said sternly.  Why did this man whom he had such strong feelings for have such a low opinion of himself?  “I chose to protect you, and I’m _hurt_ because demons threw holy fire at us.  Don’t blame yourself.”

“But-” Dean started, but Castiel put his hand up to stop him from continuing that sentence.

“No, Dean.  I will not listen to this.  You are more important than you think.  And you are needed to defeat Chaos.  _I_ need you with me.  I can’t do this without you.”

The words _I need you_ echoed in Cassiel’s head, but instead with Dean’s voice instead of his own. 

“You…said that once, correct?  To me?”  Castiel couldn’t help but ask, as the images from the dreams flooded his mind.  “You said you needed me?”

“I…yeah, Cas.  I did.”

“Well, I feel the same.  I need you, Dean.  I…believe I always have.”  Although Cassiel did not truly know if that last sentiment was true, it _felt_ right.  Like Dean was someone who would always be important to him, no matter what happened to his memories or his mind.  Dean needed Castiel, and Castiel needed Dean. 

Dean stared at his angel for a few long seconds, processing what Cas had said to him.  And then he leaned in, allowing his mouth to press against Castiel’s softly.  Dean could feel his heart racing in his chest, and Castiel could _hear_ its beat.  The angel sat up more, so that he could return the kiss, careful to not do anything that would make Dean uncomfortable.  The hunter felt almost lightheaded; it didn’t make sense to him…he was acting as if this was his first kiss ever when in reality it wasn’t even his first kiss with Cas.  But the angel just had that sort of effect on him, apparently.  He always had. 

When Dean pulled away, Castiel was smiling.  The hunter looked off to the side, a vibrant blush decorating his face; he didn’t want to look at Cas right now.  He was too embarrassed.  “Uh…sorry about that.  You’re hurt and I probably shouldn’t have done that right now and…”  He trailed off, not knowing what exactly he should say right now.  Castiel sat up more, and took Dean’s chin in his hand in order to move the human’s head to face him. 

“Dean.  It’s okay.  It was…enjoyable.  Thank you,” he said warmly.  But it didn’t seem to have the calming effect on the hunter that Castiel had wanted: if anything, Dean’s heart rate sped up _more_. 

“Yeah, well…yeah,” Dean replied, awkwardly fumbling over his words.  “Let me just…keep helping you with those burns, alright?”  There was nothing more Dean wanted right now than silence, even if that silence came with a handsomely smiling Castiel, looking at Dean as if the human was his whole universe.  Dean added water to another paper towel and gently placed it over another one of Castiel’s wounds, and the angel decided to lie back down. 

But he wasn’t down for long, startling Dean when he shot up again, wincing a little in pain. 

“What is it?”  Dean asked, while Castiel held two finger’s to his temple. 

“A message.”  Castiel listened for a moment, before relaying the information: “They’re gathering the weapons.  Heaven’s weapons.”

“Who?  The other angels and Sam?”

“Yes,” Castiel replied, still listening.  “Apparently two of them are on Earth.”  Cas was then silent again, relaying back a message asking where they were.  When he heard a response from Balthazar, his eyes went wide, and he couldn’t help but smile.  “That’s why I was drawn to this place…”

“What?”

“The Spear of Destiny is _here_.”

\------

Intercepting angel radio was not easy, even for an angel.  So far, Lucifer had been unsuccessful in trying to obtain any information.  There was very little chance he would be able to listen in on any information between his brothers and sisters still in heaven.  But messages coming down to Earth for Cassiel were a different story.  Still difficult to spy on, but not nearly as impossible.

While he didn’t hear the entire message from Gabriel, he heard the key words – “the weapons” – and those two words alone were able to tip him off to his siblings’ newest plans.  They were gathering the weapons from heaven’s arsenal, and Lucifer knew how dangerous that could potentially be for him and his new allies.  If the seven weapons were gathered together, they created a Godlike force and power which might be more than problematic. 

He kept listening in; the Spear of Destiny and the Fate-Killing Blade were the only two weapons hidden on Earth.  Unfortunately, the locations of the two came out a garbled mess; he didn’t know where to start looking for them, but at least he knew which ones to _look_ for. 

First, however, he had to tell his surrogate mother.

“Chaos.  I have some information for you,” he said aloud, standing in the middle of what was now a vacant suburban home’s living room.  He walked over the bodies of the family he killed, sitting in a nearby recliner.  He waited until, through the window, he saw blackened smoke in the sky.  Accompanying that smoke were screams and sounds of murder and mayhem; humans beginning to turn on each other thanks to Chaos’ influence.  The weak would fall first; children, mostly.  Lucifer smiled; humans killing each other in the face of his Father’s absence just proved to him that they were the flawed abominations he always saw them as.

The front door swung open, and Chaos gracefully entered the house.  Her Darkness traveled with her as always, never straying too far from her side. 

“Yes, love?”

Lucifer stood so he was eye-level with the goddess.  “I’ve intercepted something; it seems my brothers are planning on obtaining the angelic weapons.”  When Chaos gave him a look, indicating that she wasn’t sure what he was talking about, he continued.  “My Father created the weapons after you were imprisoned.  I’m not surprised you don’t know about them.  There are seven of them in total, and when put together, they can match my Father’s power.”

Chaos absorbed the information with a pensive expression, waiting for a minute or so before responding again.  “Where are these weapons?”

“Most are in heaven, so right now we can’t obtain them.  But two of them are apparently on Earth.  If we can take even one of them, we will be able to prevent them from amassing such light and power.”

Chaos nodded.  “Do you know where they are?”

“No.  But Earth is small, in the grand scheme of things.  It shouldn’t be too hard to find them.  Especially with your witch’s army of demons.”

Chaos chuckled, and brought her hand up to caress Lucifer’s cheek.  She looked at him lovingly; the way a mother does a child she is proud of.  “Of course, you’re correct.  Thank you, love, for this.  If I may ask for you to also search for them, would you do that for me?”

Lucifer smiled, and even leaned into her hand.  This goddess did everything for him that God never did; she _asked_ for his help.  She did not _demand_ anything.  Her power was incredible and matched his Father’s, and yet she did not order him to do things he did not wish to do.  He _wanted_ to help her.  He _wanted_ her to win.  He wanted freedom, and she was the one who would give it to him, whereas his Father imprisoned him for speaking out and refusing to love those flawed human beings.

The fact that she killed his Father did not seem to bother him as much anymore.  He loved his Father, yes, and still did, but Chaos offered more for him.  And acted the way he wished his Father and brothers and sisters did – accepting of all his choices without judgment.         

Chaos was his true family.

“Of course I will.”

\------

It hadn’t taken long for Gabriel to locate his Horn of Truth, and once he did, he returned it to the sanctuary’s cabin.  Upon splitting up, He, Hannah, and Balthazar had agreed that they would return the weapons to the cabin once they found them, in order to collect them all in one location.  Sam had stayed in the building while the angels searched, waiting for his turn to help. 

“You ready?”  Gabriel had asked once he came back.  “Bah, of course you are.  You’re Sam Winchester!”  He didn’t even wait for a response from the human.  “We’re headed for the vault.  You might die, just so you know.”

“Yeah, I’m aware,” Sam said seriously and with annoyance lacing his tone; he wasn’t entirely appreciating the archangel’s humorous demeanor right now. 

“Good!  Just reminding you.”

Gabriel grabbed onto Sam’s shoulder and teleported, and the next thing Sam knew he was standing in front of a large metal door.  It had wards all over it, from what the human could see, and Gabriel stood back.  “You need me, I’ll be right here,” the archangel had said, still smiling. 

Sam took a deep breath and pressed his hand to the door to test it.  When nothing happened, he allowed himself to exhale slowly.  He took a hold of the large handle and began to turn it.  The wards started to softly glow, and Sam stopped.  They faded again.  Was this a good idea? 

Well, there was no turning back now.  With Cas trapped on Earth there was no angel that could enter the vault, apparently.  This was the only current option.

Sam resumed turning the handle, trying to not pay attention to the wards as they became brighter and brighter, almost blindingly so.  The human just closed his eyes and continued turning.  He could have sworn he heard Gabriel call out to him…or was that just his imagination?  Everything seemed fuzzy all of a sudden.  When Sam opened his eyes again, electricity was flowing all around him, sparking and practically buzzing in his ears.  Again, he took a deep breath. 

He felt the handle stop, and the door to the vault opened slowly. 

The lightning struck Sam.  However, while the human was expecting death to immediately come, nothing seemed to happen.  The lightning had hit him, but didn’t hurt him at all.  He looked down at himself; it was running all over his body, but he didn’t feel any different. 

Slowly and carefully, Sam entered the vault.  It was empty with the exception of the weapons that he was there to obtain.  He first grabbed the two pieces of the Staff of Moses, and then reached down for Lot’s Salt.  Part of him was afraid that the Salt would turn him to stone as it did Raphael, but nothing happened once he touched it. 

Sam exited the vault to greet a relieved Gabriel. 

“Damn, that lightning would’ve killed me!  Looks like you were right.”

Sam smiled and handed the weapons over to the archangel.  Gabriel grabbed onto the human and again teleported back to the sanctuary’s cabin.  Hannah and Balthazar were both standing there; the Ark of the Covenant and David’s Sling had been placed next to Gabriel’s Horn of Truth. 

“What took you so long?”  Balthazar asked, his arms crossed over his chest.  He was smirking, though Gabriel scoffed at him.

“Unlike _someone_ , we had to fetch _three_ weapons, not just one!”

“At least you didn’t have to travel outside heaven to get them.”

“Hey, whose fault is that, Mr. ‘I buried one of the most powerful weapons in the universe on a different planet’?”

“So,” Hannah interrupted.  “How exactly are we going to get all seven weapons together?  The two on Earth need to be with these five.”

Gabriel sighed, thinking for a moment.  “We’re going to have to ask Raguel and Ramiel to open the gate a little.  Then, we either throw the weapons down to Cas or one of us goes down to deliver them personally.  I don’t like the idea of just throwing them down.”

“But you threw down the blood before?  Why not the weapons?”  Sam asked.

“The weapons are different.  Their power makes it harder to pinpoint a specific location for them to fall.  They could end up somewhere completely different, and we’re then stuck searching for them again.  Or rather, Cas is stuck searching for them.”

“But Chaos will find you if you go down yourself,” Sam replied, sighing. 

“Yeah, she’ll find _me._ But it won’t be noticeable if _you_ deliver them.  What’s another human to Chaos?  You’re unremarkable to her, no offense.  You can pass under the radar.  Plus, you have your warding still.  She shouldn’t be able to find you as easily as one of us.  Honestly the hard part is going to be convincing Ramiel and Raguel to open the gate.”

“Well, it _is_ risky,” Hannah said seriously.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Gabriel responded.  “But this is the only shot we got right now.”

There was silence for about a minute.

“Alright,” Sam said.  “Just let me know what I need to do.”          


	26. The Show Must Go On

“What do you mean the Spear of Destiny is here?  Where is it?”  Dean was rushing after Castiel, who, despite his injuries, had quickly gotten up and started rummaging through things, stopping only to go through different rooms.

“I was wondering why I sought this place out before…it is because I was drawn to its power.  Balthazar told me that it lies here somewhere, hidden behind concealment and warding spells.  We just need to find it…”  Castiel did not even look at Dean when he spoke.  “I can feel it, now that I recognize it, but it feels like it is all around us…I can’t pinpoint its exact location.  Whoever hid the spear did a remarkable job.”

Dean of course was about to say that Cas himself was the one who hid it, but he kept his mouth shut instead.  He didn’t really want to pull Cas into another one of those memory-dysphoria states right now.  “Cas, buddy, really you should rest though…”

“Dean, I’m _fine,_ ” Cas responded with a slightly annoyed attitude, even though deep down, he knew Dean was right and that the human was only looking out for him.  But he had to find the Spear of Destiny.  With all seven angelic weapons, they might stand a chance against Chaos; after all the setbacks and losses they had suffered, this was an opportunity to turn it all around again.  That made Cassiel want to press on, no matter how much he was hurting at the moment.   

With Dean still trailing behind him like a shadow, Castiel ascended a flight of stairs, reaching a door that was locked from the other side.  When he tried to blast it open, however, the door instead just began to glow a bright blue, displaying the Enochian sigils that were drawn all over it.  Castiel smiled widely, despite the setback.  “This is where it is…in this room,” he spoke softly. 

“How are we supposed to get through?”  Dean asked, looking up and down the door.  “I hope you have some sort of plan here?”

“These wards are powerful, but can be undone.  It will take some of my blood and strength, unfortunately.”

“Cas, no!  You’re already not strong enough from the fire-”

“Dean,” Castiel turned to his human and put a hand gently on his shoulder, trying to reassure him.  “It’s the only way right now.  I’ll be alright.” 

Without waiting for a reaction from Dean, Cassiel completely faced the door.  He took out his blade and cut into his right hand, before placing it on the wood in front of him.  Lowly, he began chanting in Enochian, and the wards began to glow once again.  This time, however, they appeared to absorb the blood from the angel’s hand; their color slowly transitioned from a bright blue to a soft purple.  That purple light crept up onto Castiel’s hand and arm, and he grimaced, still while chanting.  The wards were sucking life from him.

Dean called out his name, but Cassiel didn’t seem to hear him.  Unfortunately, the light was too overwhelming for the hunter to try and interfere; Dean had his arm raised to try and shield his eyes, and found he couldn’t move much closer than he already was.  Again, he called for Cas, trying to tell him to stop, but the angel persisted. 

Cassiel began to see visions.

Flashes of Raphael came into his mind.  Confrontations between Castiel and his older brother, between their followers…the angelic blood spilt in a bloody holy war.  Cassiel saw a mixture of the white-blue color of grace and the gray-black ashes of wings flood the inside of his eyelids, and he was half-tempted to open them in recoil.  Only by reminding himself that the Spear of Destiny lie behind this door was he able to continue. 

He saw another brother – Balthazar – hand him something.  It looked like one of the weapons, but Cassiel could not tell which one.  He saw himself placing the weapon in a safe room and filling said room with angelic protection.  It must be this room…that weapon was the Spear.  Cassiel himself hid the Spear here…he just wished he fully remembered why and when…

Lightning began to flash from the door, causing Dean to step back a little more from Castiel.  He looked on in worry; the lightning struck his angel, but Cas didn’t seem affected; he kept chanting, and with each syllable that left his lips, the wards seemed to become brighter, and the electricity became more intense. 

“Cas!”

Cassiel saw himself, standing in front of Raphael.  Although his older brother was leagues more powerful than he was, Castiel was unafraid, because he had the weapons.  Lightning flashed and Castiel’s wings appeared as large looming shadows on the wall behind him.  He could feel the power of the angelic arsenal at his disposal, just as Cassiel could feel the power of the Spear of Destiny behind the wards.

And he saw Dean flash in his mind; looking both impressed and frightened simultaneously. 

The wards exploded in a blinding light, and Dean was thrown backwards and down the stairs.  He groaned in pain as he stood again, but found the strength to race back up.  When he reached the top, he found Castiel collapsed on the ground in front of a now open door.

“The…Spear…”  Cas groaned, pointing to inside the room when Dean knelt down beside him. 

“Cas-”

“Please…just…”  The angel kept pointing at the room, and when Dean looked inside, he saw a blade.  It wasn’t a full lance, but rather, the sharpened tip of one.  He ran over and grabbed it before returning to Castiel’s side.  He placed the weapon gently in Castiel’s hands, which allowed the archangel to relax a little in Dean’s arms; he felt the power and warmth from the Spear envelop him in a soft light.

When the light dimmed again, Cassiel had fallen unconscious.  

\-----

Gabriel equipped Sam with a bag filled with the five weapons that they, Balthazar, and Hannah had gathered.  The latter two had already headed towards the gate, hoping to begin asking Ramiel and Raguel for assistance in their plan.  

“ _If_ we can convince those two to open the gates enough to let you pass through, I’ll teleport you down to Earth to where Cas and Dean are; I’m pretty sure they’re still at the monastery where the Spear is located,” the archangel had explained while stuffing the bag with the weapons.  Since Sam was human, he couldn’t carry them all without the use of something to hold them in, which had been annoying to find, to say the least.  “Once you’re there,” he continued, “Castiel should know what to do; you’ll still need to get a hold of the Fate-Killing Blade, but once that happens, you should have all seven and Cas should be able to work from there.” 

“So I’m just the delivery boy?”  Sam had been kind of hoping that there was more to his part than just shuffling the arsenal from one angel to the next.

“Yep!  Sorry Sammy but actually activating the weapons is a _bit_ beyond your abilities as a human.  Needs to be an archangel who is in possession of them in order to activate their full power.”  Before Sam was able to respond, Gabriel clapped a hand on the human’s shoulder and flew; the next thing Sam saw was Balthazar and Hannah arguing with Raguel, who was facing the gates still.  Ramiel too, was facing the gates, but didn’t seem to be participating in the conversation.  Not yet, anyway.

“You want us to open the door?  Do you _want_ Chaos to flood heaven with her poison?”  Raguel asked, glancing over at Hannah and Balthazar.  “Even opening it enough for one of us to fit in…if she’s paying any attention at all – which she _will be_ , mind you – she’ll take advantage and come pouring in here with her Darkness!  We can’t risk it!”

“But we have the five weapons and the other two are back on Earth!”  Hannah responded, her voice loud.  “This is our only chance; we _have_ to take the risk!  You two can’t keep this up for eternity!”

“What about letting a human through rather than one of us?  It’ll be easier to slip Sam in under the radar,” Gabriel said, walking up with said human.  “I gave Sam the weapons, Raguel.  The door barely needs to be opened to let him pass through, unlike one of us.  It’ll be as though the gates were still shut, in her eyes.  Probably, anyway.  There’ll be no light coming out of heaven for her to see.  Just a human.”

Raguel shook her head.  “Brother, I know what you’re saying, but it is still far too risky…if she gets in here…”

“Hannah’s right, though.  You two can’t keep this up forever; if you do nothing, she’ll get in here no matter what, even if it is in a thousand years.  It’ll happen, eventually, no doubt.  But this…yeah we risk letting her in _now_ , but we also have a chance to stop her if we do this!  We can’t keep playing the defensive game.”

Raguel’s head turned to look at Gabriel, and she sighed.  “Ramiel, what do you say?” 

Ramiel opened her eyes slowly; she looked incredibly tired, but still strong.  She knew that she and Raguel were potentially the last line of defense for them right now.  “Gabriel’s right,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.  “Doing this only keeps Chaos out of heaven for the moment…while right now she devastates Earth.  And she will spread to other planets across the universe…unless we take this risk.”

Raguel looked surprised; it was obvious that she had been expected Ramiel to agree with her rather than their brother.  Out of her mouth came a dissatisfied noise.  “Fine.  Looks like I’m outnumbered.”  Gabriel felt like he should get on his knees in thanks to Ramiel right then and there; those two were closer to each other than anyone else in the universe, and Raguel often deferred to Ramiel’s judgment. 

“But the door will be open only for a second, so you best be ready,” Ramiel said, glancing back at Sam.  “There will not be another opportunity, and the door will be shut again behind you.”

“Don’t worry, sis,” Gabriel said, clapping Sam on the back and smiling widely, “I’ll make sure he gets down there in one piece.  You can count on me.”

“That doesn’t bring me much comfort, you know,” Raguel responded, with a slight smirk to let Gabriel know she was joking.  Well…half-joking would probably be a better way to put it.  Gabriel just stuck his tongue out at her.

“You _wound_ me!  Have you no faith?”  He laughed and then brought Sam towards the gate.

“So just…give these to Cas?  That’s it?”  Sam asked, still waiting for another piece of instruction.  Instead of getting one, though, Gabriel just nodded his head.

“Yep.  Cas will know what to do.  Even with his memory all scrambled.  You just keep them safe until they get in his hands,” Gabriel explained.  His smile fell for a moment, and the former trickster became serious.  “After you’re down there, we can’t help you anymore from up here.  It’s up to you three.  Seems like that happens a lot, eh?”           

“Heh, yeah…”  Sam took in a deep breath and nodded.  It always seemed to come down to the three of them.  And they always seemed to pull through.  “Alright.  I’m ready.”

Gabriel shouted something in Enochian to his two sisters, who both lowered their arms.

Before Sam could react, Gabriel had his hand on his forehead.

Sam disappeared, and the gates to heaven shut behind him again.

\-----

Dean had carried an unconscious Castiel back down the stairs and into the room where they had basically set up camp.  Despite being passed out, the angel’s grip was still tight on the Spear of Destiny.  Dean was spending some time caring for the burns still all over Castiel’s body; they were less severe than before, thanks to Cas’ healing abilities, but they weren’t disappearing as fast as Dean would have liked.  So, he did the only thing he knew how to do at the moment, which was continually put wet bandages on them. 

Suddenly, there was a loud crash.

With lightning reflexes, Dean stood and pulled out his reserve gun – his usual one he had unfortunately dropped and lost back at the burning motel.  The crash came from the floor above; where they had found the Spear.  Although he was reluctant to leave Cas all alone a second time, Dean quietly (or as quietly as he could on an old rickety staircase) ascended the steps.  As he got closer, he could hear groaning from the room; the door had been shut before he brought Castiel back downstairs. 

Dean reached out to grab the doorknob slowly.  Once his hand was on it, he waited a few seconds to listen to whatever came from inside, but all he now heard was rummaging, as if whoever was in there had dropped something and was picking it back up.  Quickly, Dean turned the knob and flung the door open, making sure to keep his gun pointed.

“Woah, Dean!  It’s me!” 

Immediately, Dean lowered his weapon.  Just to be safe, he then pulled out his flask of holy water and threw some of the liquid in Sam’s face.  Nothing happened, except now Sam looked slightly annoyed.

“Not a demon,” his little brother said, wiping his face on his sleeve.  “I was in heaven, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Dean responded, putting the flash back into his inside jacket pocket.  He then wasted no more time; he walked up and hugged Sam, grateful to have his brother back at his side.  “But I thought the gates were closed?  That’s what Cas told me, anyway,” he explained after stepping back again. 

“Well, they were.  _Are_ , I should say.  But they opened them enough to let me through so I could give these to Cas.”  Sam gestured to the bag that was slung over his shoulder before dropping it on the ground.  Dean’s eyes widened when Sam opened it.

“These are…?”

“Yeah, five of the angelic weapons.  And then there are two more to get on Earth, Gabriel had told me.”

“One more,” Dean corrected.  “We just got the Spear of Destiny.  But…we need to wait before we can get the last one.  Cas…Cas isn’t doing so well right now.  Crowley and Adam hit us with a Molotov of holy fire and he got the brunt of it.”  Dean of course didn’t mention exactly _how_ Cas became so injured – by protecting him – because of his own guilt about it, but Sam still gave him that sympathetic puppy-eyed look. 

“Damn…”  Sam looked away for a moment, back down at the weapons.  “We’ll get the last one after he’s alright, then.”

There was Sam, practical as ever.

“So tell me about your time with the God squad.  Any extra shit I ought to know about?”  Dean asked, leading Sam back down the stairs.

They had a lot to catch up on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know not too much happened in this chapter but things should be getting intense in the next few ones! :) As always, thanks for reading and for any kudos! <3


	27. All Nightmare Long

_Castiel watched the man with the green eyes.  He was invisible to the human, who was raking leaves in his new yard.  In his head, Castiel wrestled with the idea of asking for the man’s help.  As much as he wanted to talk to his friend, he also didn’t want to disturb this quiet life that he had created for himself.  After averting the apocalypse, the least Castiel could do was go on with his rather chaotic life without him._

_Even if that included making a deal with a devil._

_An angel and a demon, working together…it wasn’t unheard of, but it also wasn’t a decision that Castiel was particularly proud of.  But if it meant allowing the green-eyed man to continue raking leaves peacefully…to continue this life away from the monsters of the universe and the problems of heaven…then Cassiel would make this same decision again and again._

_As much as he missed those green eyes…as much as he wanted to ask for his help…he wouldn’t.  He wouldn’t drag the man back into this life._

_Unfortunately, all of that was for naught._

_The hunter’s life could not escape the green-eyed man._

_But by the time that happened, it was too late to then ask for his help in the civil war against Raphael.  The path had already been set, and Castiel was on it without his best friend._

_Being on that path would lead to one of the darkest times in Castiel’s life, and probably the biggest mistake he has ever made._

_He did a lot of damage, on Earth and in Heaven.  He decimated thousands of angels simply for disagreeing…it was as if he couldn’t control himself.  Powerful and angry and righteous…that was how Castiel felt.  Betrayed and alone…none of them understood that he did everything for them.  The green-eyed man didn’t understand._

_And yet when the brother called…Castiel answered._

_Finally, he asked for help. Even if it was too late.  Even if it didn’t change anything._

_“I’m sorry…”  The last words he thought he would ever speak: an apology to his dearest friend.  To the green-eyed man he adored and yet hurt so much._

_All Castiel ever wanted to do was protect him._

\------

It was three days before Castiel woke up.  During that time, Sam and Dean took care of his burns, which were still healing slowly.  Dean spent most of his time at Castiel’s side, worrying about the angel; there were a few times when Cas would mumble incoherently in his unconscious state.  Sometimes he spoke in Enochian, and other times he spoke in English, but unfortunately it was all gibberish to the hunter.  Sam would tell Dean to get some rest or go eat something, but Dean did not want to leave Castiel alone for any extended period.

Sam kept watch over the six of heaven’s weapons that they currently had; until Cas woke up, Gabriel had entrusted them to him, and so Sam took them with him wherever he went.  It became a habit, really; the bag holding the arsenal was an extension of him at this rate.  Dean never seemed to mind; he was too distracted with caring and worrying over when Castiel would wake up.  The two brothers exchanged tales about what had happened during the time they were apart, though Dean was purposely vague when it came to discussing the kisses that he and Cas shared.  Not that it mattered, because Sam would give him that bullshit knowing smirk of his, only for his older brother to get red and tell him to “shut up.” 

On the third day, in the middle of the evening, Dean had found himself drifting off.  He couldn’t remember many dreams, but he recalled a light, and wings.  Large wings with a thousand eyes…all blue, and all kind.  He heard his name in a deep yet ethereal voice…it was gentle.  Dean almost wanted to reach out…but he woke up before his hand could make any contact. 

He woke up and heard his name from Castiel’s lips.   

Dean jolted up, ignoring the pain that rushed through his head when he did so.  He watched Castiel’s eyes flutter open.

“Cas?  Hey, Cas…”  Although Dean was excited and _happy_ that Castiel was finally awake, he didn’t want to shout.  Sam was sleeping nearby, after all.  Plus, Dean didn’t want to alarm his angel at all.

Castiel’s eyes focused on the hunter…and on those eyes.  That green that he remembered from his dreams…he reached up to cup Dean’s face in both of his hands, wanting to just gaze at that beautiful color.  Dean, of course, cleared his throat and turned red; he was able to stare back at Cas for only a few seconds (which felt like minutes to him) before averting his eyes.  Castiel was always so…intense, and the light that shone behind his already bright blues made his angelic nature even more apparent. 

“Dean…”  Upon realizing that he was probably making Dean uncomfortable, Castiel sat up and brought his hands down.  “How long was I out?” 

“A few days.  You alright?  You were talking a lot in your sleep,” Dean informed, choosing to leave out the details.

“Yes, I’m fine.  Thank you, Dean.  But we really should get moving…we need to locate the Fate-Killing Blade,” Cas said as he began to stand, cringing a little; his wings were still hurting somewhat, but they were admittedly doing much better than before.

“Cas, you should rest more…”

“No, Dean.  I’ve rested enough…with every second that passes, Raguel and Ramiel are getting weaker and Chaos is growing stronger.  It won’t be long before she is able to push through the gate…we must obtain the final weapon before that is able to occur.”  Although what Cas was saying made sense, Dean still didn’t like it; he wanted Castiel to be able to relax and fully recover.  But the angel was right: they didn’t exactly have a lot of time to delay. 

They both stood, with Dean helping Castiel get to his feet.  He then went over to Sam and shook him awake. 

It wasn’t long before the three of them were standing in the middle of the room, with Sam still holding onto the bag of weapons.  Castiel had requested that Sam keep them until they obtained the Fate-Killing Blade; with all seven, Castiel said that he could summon the fierce light of heaven and God, and hopefully defeat or at the very least re-trap Chaos.

“Who will hold onto the key?”  Dean asked right before Cas was about to teleport them to the location of the final weapon.  Cassiel stopped and tilted his head in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the Mark of Cain was the key, right?  And it…well, it wasn’t _good_ , Cas.  Someone is going to need to hold onto it when Chaos is put behind bars again,” Dean explained. 

“That is a discussion I’ll have to have with my siblings, but…I believe I would take the key.”

Dean took a step back, looking downright furious.  “What?  No, Cas!  You saw what that thing did to me!  And to Lucifer!  What would it do to _you_?”

“I don’t know, Dean, but it is the responsibility of the archangels to hold the key to Chaos’ prison.  I’m _not_ Lucifer, and so I don’t know how it would affect me.  If not me, then one of the other archangels would need to hold onto it.  Why should they have to bear the burden and not me?”

Dean said nothing in response, even though he wanted to.  There were a ton of reasons that the hunter could think of as to why Cas shouldn’t be the key-bearer, but they were all personal.  Frankly, Dean didn’t _care_ as much about what happened to the other archangels.  They weren’t _Cas._   But, Dean also knew that Castiel would not want to hear that said about his brothers and sisters.  So instead, he said nothing.

“…We’ll talk about this more, Dean.  Later.”  And with that, Castiel put his hands on Sam and Dean and flew out of the monastery.

\-----

The location of the Fate-Killing Blade, according to Balthazar, was a large abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere in Michigan.  Perfect place to hide one of heaven’s greatest weapons, he had mentioned (obviously he had hid it there, so he was quite proud of himself for its location).  He had also mentioned to Castiel that there were protective wards and spells surrounding it, just like the Spear of Destiny. 

Which is why Cassiel felt more than slightly weary when he could not feel the presence of any of those spells when he landed at the warehouse with Sam and Dean. 

He let go of the brothers, and walked around the empty room, a confused look on his face.

“Did I get the location wrong…?  No, no that can’t be it; he said it would be here…”  He was muttering to himself, and Dean and Sam followed behind him, exchanging worried glances.

“Uh, Cas…?  Everything alright?”  Dean asked, not taking his eyes off the angel.

“No…no, something’s wrong.”  Then, something seemed to dawn on Cassiel, because his eyes widened, and he quickly turned around to face the brothers.  “I’m going to teleport you two back-”

But before he could finish his sentence, an invisible force threw him back and across the room, slamming him into the far wall.  Dean and Sam both shouted his name and began running towards him, yet they did not get far before they were likewise forced aside.  Sam hit his head hard on the concrete, and slumped down to the floor, unconscious.  Blood began to run down his face slowly, forming a small pool beneath him, next to the bag of weapons he still carried.  Dean hadn’t been too lucky either; his left shoulder bore the brunt of his impact, and he could have sworn he heard the crunching of bone.  When he was able to pull himself back to his feet, he found moving his left arm to be practically impossible.

Dammit.

Castiel, meanwhile, had emerged practically unscathed, and the angel summoned forth his spear of light.  He began to glide over towards Dean, only to be again thrown past his human; he hit the floor hard a few times, but was able to catch his feet and pop back up. 

A figure emerged from a doorway, clapping slowly.  And under his arm, was the Fate-Killing Blade.

“Lucifer,” Cassiel greeted his elder brother with a snarl, gripping tightly onto his weapon. 

“I must say, little brother, you recovered from that holy fire a lot quicker than I thought you would have.  Well done.  But, unfortunately, still wasn’t quick enough.”  Lucifer put the golden blade into his hand, twirling it around a few times.  “If only you had gotten here earlier.  Maybe you would have this.”  The Devil looked over at Sam, and smiled wickedly when he saw the bag beside the hunter’s unconscious form.  “And you brought the others, excellent.”  He put the weapon into his inside jacket pocket.

“You won’t be taking those,” Cassiel responded, his eyes glowing white.  He held up his palm and shot a beam of light from it; Dean covered his eyes with his right hand as the beam directly hit Lucifer in the chest, causing the fallen angel to crash against the concrete wall behind him.  The wall crumbled.  Castiel flew over to Dean, who had rushed to Sam’s side.  Just as the archangel was about to teleport the hunters out of harm’s way, Lucifer appeared behind him.  The Devil grabbed Cassiel’s arm and threw him over his shoulder, away from the brothers.

“They aren’t going anywhere, Cassiel.  I want them to watch.”  Lucifer summoned his own weapon, but rather than his sword of light, he held one of shadowy darkness.  The shadows seemed to almost engulf his form, and he again charged at Cassiel, who was barely able to dodge the blade before it pierced him between the eyes. 

“Why are you doing this?  She will destroy everything!”  Of course, Cassiel was referring to Chaos, and he parried the next blow with his spear.  Light and Dark clashed together, and sparks flew between the weapons.  Cassiel pushed Lucifer back, and the two levitated in the air, staring at each other. 

“She offers me freedom, whereas you would have locked me in that cage.  Why should I help you when you and the rest of my siblings despise me so?”  If Dean believed that the Devil had any sort of emotions other than hatred, he could have sworn he saw sadness pierce through Lucifer’s eyes, but the moment passed just as quickly as it came.

“We don’t despise you!”  Castiel sounded almost frantic, but his exclamation was only met with Lucifer charging at him again.  The light of Castiel’s spear enveloped the angel protectively, as if to act as an aegis against the Darkness coming from Lucifer. 

“Don’t _lie to me_!”  Lucifer shouted angrily.  He kicked Cassiel, who was thrown back into the concrete wall again, above Dean and Sam.  The hunter called out his angel’s name, watching and listening to everything unfold.  He began to rummage through the bag of weapons, looking for anything that could possibly help Cas right at this moment.  But as he was searching, Lucifer decided to throw him across the room and away from the arsenal. 

“Dean!”  Castiel pushed himself off the wall with his feet, and dove towards his hunter.  His wings, unfortunately, were still in extreme pain due to the burns that still hadn’t completely healed.  It made him slower than usual, which Lucifer picked up on immediately.  The Devil intercepted his brother and slashed at him, hitting only Cassiel’s arm because the archangel was able to dodge at the last minute.  Unfortunately, the wound immediately began to fester and corrupt; the light behind Cassiel’s eyes dimmed slightly, and he felt woozy. 

“Chaos herself forged me this blade, Cassiel.  Feeling its effects yet?”  Lucifer had an arrogant smirk on his face, while Cassiel narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth.  Quickly, the archangel poured his energy into healing the wound, purging the Darkness from him as fast as possible.  “She is my family, Cassiel.  My true family.  As much as I loved Father…he did not love me in return.  Not after _humans_ were born.  I can accept that now.  His love is not unconditional.  Hers _is_.”           

“She’s using you!”  Cassiel again tried to plead with his brother.

“Yes.  Because I’m _allowing her to_ ,” Lucifer said, calmly.  “She asked.  She did not demand.  Not like Father.”  Again, he sounded sad, but then took in a deep breath and pointed his blade at Cassiel.  “I refuse to be put in a cage again!”

Cassiel growled and decided to be the one to charge this time.  He swung his spear, aiming for the Devil’s head, but his weapon hit Lucifer’s sword instead.  The archangel was shaking, both in fear and in anger; he wasn’t strong enough to fight Lucifer on his own, and there was a high probability that Chaos would be here at any moment.  Cassiel would not run away without Sam and Dean and the remainder of the weapons, and Lucifer was making that impossible to do at the moment.

Again, Dean ran towards the weapons; this time, he was able to pull out one half of the Staff of Moses; he thought about using Lot’s Salt, remembering what it did to Raphael when Balthazar utilized it, but unfortunately he didn’t know what it would potentially do to Cas, and he didn’t want to accidentally hurt his angel. 

Dean pointed the Staff in the air with his good arm, hoping that it would do _something_.  A light began to radiate from it, and Dean was forced to close his eyes once it enveloped the room.  The light seemed to have a strengthening and rejuvenating effect on Cassiel, whose weapon glowed brighter than it ever had before, and whose wings repaired and remaining burns healed on the spot.  Lucifer’s weapon, on the other hand, seemed to dull; its shadows became smaller and less intense.  A soft light emanated from Cassiel, who held up his palm and shot another beam of light towards the Devil.  This light was almost sparkling, having been infused with the smiting power of the Staff, and hit Lucifer in the chest before he was able to dodge it. 

Lucifer was thrown back and hit the wall and then the ground, passing out from the new intensity of Castiel’s power.  Cassiel floated down before running towards his brother with the intention of delivering a killing blow. 

“What the…?”  Unfortunately, a shadowy form enveloped Lucifer before Cassiel’s spear could make contact, and protected the Devil from any harm.  Cassiel jumped back, next to Dean, and watched as Chaos materialized, holding Lucifer in her arms like a mother protecting her child.  Before Castiel could do anything else, Chaos grabbed the Fate-Killing Blade from Lucifer’s inside pocket, thanking him as she did so. 

“No!”  Cassiel shouted and charged at her, only for the goddess to throw him to the side with a mere flick of her wrist. 

“With this…” She said as she held the blade up, corrupting its light with her Darkness.  “Perhaps I’ll be able to finally enter Yahweh’s kingdom.”

Dean backed up when the goddess placed Lucifer gently down on the ground, and began walking towards him.  She held out her hand when she was around five feet away from him, and his back had hit the concrete wall behind him.  “Now,” she said quietly.  “Give me the others.”

“You’ll have to kill me first,” he said with a snarl, holding up the Staff against her.  She just chuckled.

“That can be arranged, Dean Winchester.”

Once she said that, another ray of light appeared and hit the goddess in the side, making her stumble back and slightly away from Dean.  The hunter looked over and saw Castiel panting and glowing, leaning a little on his spear for some extra support.  He glanced over at Lucifer, and pointed his palm in the fallen angel’s direction.

“Leave.  Or I kill him.”

Chaos stared at Cassiel before closing her eyes.  She knew that with the extra power of the Staff, his threat was not empty.  Although he could not kill _her_ with that smiting light, he could dispose of Lucifer easier than he would have been able to before.  

“Very well,” she said, before walking over to Lucifer and scooping him up into her arms.  She did not want Lucifer dead; even though a dead Lucifer would become another extension of her, she wanted him alive.  She was very attached to the fallen angel as his own person. 

She refused to abandon him like Yahweh had.

“I only need one weapon to stop you anyway.  And I have it.”    

And she disappeared, taking Lucifer and the Fate-Killing Blade with her. 


	28. Until the End of the World

Rowena was more than happy to see Chaos return to their headquarters in the abandoned library.  She’d been stuck there with Metatron, who was an annoying and entitled little thing to say the least.  The witch was tired of listening to him go on and on about how his family had wronged him so much and how he wanted to be the hero of his own story and yadda yadda yadda.  Normally Rowena didn’t mind a little fun conversation – especially at the expense of the Winchesters – but she had been so ready to sick her demons on the ex-angel just to get him to shut up.  Crowley and Adam were always ready to do her bidding now, especially.  She loved that.  But she figured that it wouldn’t be a great idea to dismember one of her own “teammates” just for being irritating.

(Then again, maybe their boss wouldn’t mind all that much, given her stance on freedom and her survival of the fittest philosophy.)    

So when Chaos emerged from a dark portal into the room, Rowena was up and bowing to the goddess in her overly dramatic fashion, getting away from Metatron as fast as possible.  The sight of Lucifer in her arms, however, was surprising.

“Those boys give him trouble?”  She asked, watching as Chaos gently placed the fallen angel onto a table.  “Did he get the Blade?”

Chaos pulled the Fate-Killing Blade out, handing it over to Rowena.  The Darkness that she had used to corrupt the weapon now flowed freely around it; it was almost as if the blade itself was smoking, except the smoke was pitch black. 

“Without all seven weapons, Yahweh’s children have no chance at keeping me from heaven,” the goddess said quietly, staring down at Lucifer.  She was happy that he was able to complete his mission, even if there was that little scare at the end with Cassiel.  Perhaps she should have killed the seventh then and there, but she had seen no point in doing so.  It was not yet his time; he was to die later with his brothers and sisters.  “I have inserted my Darkness into this blade; its powers now belong to me.  With it, I can force open the gates to heaven.”

“What exactly is your plan?”  Rowena asked.

“I’ve said before…heaven cannot exist in my universe.  It is far too bright.  Too… _confining_.  I plan on destroying it from the inside, snuffing out the light in my shadows,” Chaos explained, taking a deep breath in and out.  “The souls will too, be exposed to my Darkness.  They will…change.”  Souls were arguably Yahweh’s greatest creation aside from the archangels; they were lovely and filled with light, and Chaos disliked them.  They restricted people; those without souls were free to do as they pleased without any feeling of moral consequence. 

In corrupting the souls, she was setting them free. 

They heard a groan from Lucifer, whose eyes fluttered open.  He sat up, looking around the room, his eyes falling on Chaos.  “What happened?” 

“You succeeded, my love,” she replied, smiling.  She gestured towards Rowena, who theatrically displayed the Fate-Killing Blade to him. 

“I thought-”

“That the Seventh was going to kill you?”  The goddess chuckled, and stroked his cheek with her hand.  “No, my dear.  I made sure of that.”

“Is he dead?”  Despite faintly feeling Cassiel’s presence, Lucifer still asked.

She shook her head.  “Cassiel’s time will come, but it was not then.  His death will be on the battlefield in heaven.  I have my plans for the Seventh.”  She paused, thinking for a moment.  “You needn’t worry.  Truthfully, I sealed my victory the day I defeated your Father.”  She knew it, and the archangels knew it.  They were biding time.  Nothing more.  This little trick with the seven holy weapons was their small last chance, and it was gone now.

“When are we going to heaven?”

She turned to see Metatron walking over to her.  He had felt left out of the conversation, and wanted to listen to her plans. 

“Soon.  As soon as Lucifer recovers.”

“I’m fine,” the fallen angel insisted, but Chaos shook her head. 

“I need you to be at full power; heaven’s light will weaken me a little, and I will be somewhat distracted due to my task.  Your brothers and sisters will have the at-home advantage.  I need you to fight with my dark angels, and I would rather you survive this war in the end.”

Lucifer stared at her, absorbing the sentiment behind what the goddess was saying.  It was a sentiment he was unfamiliar with from his own family, given their…fundamental disagreements about the nature of humanity.  He nodded, accepting her judgment.  She smiled, and turned to Rowena and Metatron.

“Rowena, I would like majority of your demons to remain here on Earth.  Heaven will…be overwhelming for them, I’m afraid.”

The witch pouted.  “What, so I don’t get in on any of the fun?”

Chaos laughed.  “Now I never said that.  There’s plenty of fun for your demons to have on Earth.  _You_ can do _whatever_ you desire; stay on Earth, or come with me to heaven.  No matter your choice, however, I would like your two strongest.”  Of course, she was referring to Crowley and Adam.  “They will be able to withstand heaven’s environment, and I would like to add them to my army.  There are still more than the archangels in heaven, after all.”

“Fine,” Rowena said, waving her hand.  “But only if I get to come along.”  She wasn’t about to just let go of her two favorite pets, and staying here on Earth while the big showdown was going on in heaven just seemed rather boring. 

“Very well,” Chaos said, with no objection.  She then turned to Metatron.  “Scribe, you are to act as my guide.  Yahweh’s kingdom was forever blocked from me, and so I need someone who knows its ins and outs to provide me with any information I might need.”

“Sure thing,” Metatron said, secretly pleased that Chaos said nothing about him fighting.  Since he was human now, pain was _not_ something that he was very tolerant of, and so staying away from the battle was his primary objective.  Especially given that…well, Castiel and company probably wanted him dead even more than Chaos out of personal spite.

“The archangels will fall,” Chaos said, turning her back towards all of her followers, having relayed to them what her plans for each of them were.  “And I will cover the light of heaven in Darkness, thereby freeing the rest of the universe.”  

\-----

Castiel stared at the spot where Chaos and Lucifer disappeared, unmoving.  All the hope he had about possibly trapping the goddess vanished with the Fate-Killing Blade.  Sure, she left them with the remaining six, but without all seven weapons together, they could not summon forth the light and power of God.  And she knew that.  She did not fight to get the remaining six because they were nothing to her once she had the one. 

She could have killed them all right there, but she didn’t. 

They were her playthings, after all.  She would get bored without them.

That realization made Castiel’s heart sink even more.  He failed, and now Chaos was stringing them along in this life just because she _could_.  Because what…things would be too easy otherwise?  Too boring?  She was so confident that she was going to win that she no longer saw them as threats which needed to be immediately vanquished.  And why shouldn’t she be?  She was one step ahead of them ever since she defeated God. 

“I failed…”  He whispered, while clenching his fists.  Heaven was going to fall, and it was his entire fault.  He repeated that phrase again.  And then another time.  If only he had gotten there sooner…if only he killed Lucifer sooner, before Chaos arrived…he’d have the seven weapons, and they would’ve had a shot at trapping her again.  Now?  Now they had no chance.  Without their Father, they really had been hopeless, hadn’t they?  They were doomed from the moment He fell on the battlefield.  

“Cas…”  Dean, holding onto his broken shoulder, walked around so he was facing Castiel’s front.  The angel averted his gaze; he couldn’t look at Dean right now.  He failed heaven and he failed Dean and Earth.  Darkness would corrupt everything and cause destruction all across the universe, all because Castiel couldn’t _get to the damn Blade in time_.

“Dean.  I’m sorry…  I failed you and heaven and…  I’m sorry…”  Castiel just began spouting apologies, unable to think of what else to say at the moment.  “There’s nothing else to do anymore…she’s won.”

“So, what, you’re just going to give up?  Let her invade heaven without even a _fight_?”  Dean asked.  “Cas, there’s gotta be _something_ -”

“What is there to do, Dean?  She is more powerful than all the remaining archangels put together, by a long shot!  We never really had a chance…not after Father-”

He was cut off when Dean kissed him.

It was sudden, and more desperate than their last ones.  Dean had quickly pulled Castiel towards him by his coat with his good arm, and was clutching onto the black fabric tightly as he deepened the kiss.  Despite his initial shock, Castiel soon reciprocated, enjoying the reprieve from his own feelings of ineptness and hopelessness.  His arms wrapped around the human gently, and although Dean could not currently see them, Castiel had his wings encircling him as well.  He just wanted Dean closer to him, as close as he could be right now.  Dean was the only source of happiness for him at the moment.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Dean’s cheeks were tinted pink and he was breathing slightly heavier.  His hand was still grasping the front of Castiel’s coat, and before he could ask, the angel had his hand on Dean’s broken shoulder to heal it.  Once that was done, Dean smiled and rolled his shoulder a few times, testing it out. 

“Cas, we…we can’t just give up.  You might not remember them but…we have friends and family on Earth and in heaven – Claire, Jody, Charlie, Bobby…we can’t just give up on them,” Dean said, his voice fading with each name he said.  There were so many others on his tongue that he wanted to recognize but he kept the list short; it wasn’t like Cas remembered them anyway, he thought.  “We need to try.”

“And what, pray tell, do you propose, Dean?”

“ _Fight_ , Cas.  You know how we are.  Even when all hell breaks loose and nothing seems to go right we keep on fucking _going_.  We keep fighting back until there’s nothing left of us, and even then, hell, we’ll figure out a way to still be a pain in the ass to any monster.”

Dean sounded so determined, and so _righteous_.  Cassiel felt something; almost a feeling of nostalgia, if it could really be called that.  It was as if he should have known that would be Dean’s answer to their current predicament.  Keep on fighting, even when everything seems hopeless.  “You sound like we’ve been in these types of situations before,” Cassiel said, chuckling under his breath.  Dean just smiled.  That smile which Castiel loved so much.

“Maybe nothing of this magnitude but…yeah.  We have, Cas.  And guess what?  We always defeat those sons of bitches.  No matter who or what they are.  And we’ll do it here too.”  Truthfully, Dean wasn’t as confident as he sounded.  In fact, he knew that their chances of winning against Chaos at this rate were pretty much nonexistent, but he wanted to _believe_ that they still had a shot.  And more importantly he wanted _Cas_ to believe that.  He didn’t want to see Cas give in to despair. 

Castiel closed his eyes, looking a bit more relaxed than a few minutes ago.  “Well, Dean.  If you say so, then I will fight until the last of my grace is eradicated.  And then some.”

“Glad to hear that, bro.”  Castiel and Dean quickly turned to see Gabriel standing a few feet away from them; he was dressed in his armor, and while Dean couldn’t see them, his golden wings were raised high.  He began rummaging through the bag of heaven’s weapons, pulling out his Horn of Truth.  He held it under his arm, and looked back at Castiel, who had a surprised look on his face.  “Yeah, we felt it.  When she corrupted the Blade.  Ramiel and Raguel figured that instead of expending what was left of their energy trying to keep her out, they would just open the gate.”

“And let Chaos come to us?” 

“Exactly.  I mean, look.  She’s getting in no matter what now.  Might as well get ready for her.  We’ll probably lose, not gonna lie,” Gabriel said, sighing.  But regardless of the dismal message, he was smiling warmly.  “But that doesn’t mean we’re going to go down easy.  We’ll give her a fight she won’t forget.” 

Castiel and Dean looked at each other and then back at Gabriel, grinning.  Despite their prospects for victory being practically zero, their morale had been boosted.  Thanks to Gabriel and thanks to each other. 

“Hell yeah we will,” Dean said.  After hearing that, though, Castiel turned his entire body towards the human, a serious expression once again on his face.  Meanwhile, Gabriel had knelt down and touched Sam’s forehead, healing him and waking up the younger Winchester with an overly-enthusiastic “good morning sleepy head!” greeting.  Sam was too surprised to see Gabriel to respond in any way as he stood up. 

“Dean.  You and Sam will remain here on Earth for this fight,” Castiel mentioned, almost grimly.  “It is far too dangerous for you.”

“What?  Fuck that, Cas, we’re going with you!  _I’m_ going with you!”  Dean couldn’t help but feel angry; he didn’t want to be left on the sidelines when the finale came, given that he had been in the fray for most of this war.  Also, he didn’t want to part with Castiel.  If this was going to be their _last_ fight, then he was not going to spend that time away from his angel. 

“Dean-”

“No, Cas!  You can’t _leave me here_!  You…you can’t just expect me to stay here while you go off and fight the damn worst monster we’ve ever faced!  And…”  He trailed off; he was going to mention that inevitability of Castiel’s demise, at this point, but despite that fact staring him in the face, he didn’t want to _really_ voice that.  It became more…real that way.  “Please, Cas…”

Sam watched the scene unfold, knowing that _something_ happened between the two while he was knocked unconscious.  Gabriel just whispered some updates to him, about the Blade’s condition and what the current plan was now thanks to their current predicament.  Sam of course, sided with Dean; he didn’t want to be left here on Earth while the angels died for them.  The Darkness would continue ravaging Earth anyway, so staying here was almost pointless in his eyes.  If they didn’t die in heaven, they would either die or be miserable on Earth.  Sam personally would rather see the end battling Chaos.  But for now he kept his mouth shut, waiting to see if Dean would convince Castiel on his own to let them go.

“Dean, I can’t.  I can’t let you come with me knowing that we will likely all die!  What if I can’t protect you?”  Castiel’s voice was beginning to get louder, and his body was tensing.  “I can’t watch her kill you!”

“And you think I’m okay with you going up to heaven, dying, and then me being stuck down here in this hellhole without you?”  Dean was shouting in return, but then his voice softened.  “I…Cas, I always hate it when you leave…I can’t do a long tearful goodbye and then see you gone forever.  Usually I know you’ll come back, but this time…”  Again, his voice faded, and he could feel tears forming in his eyes.  Quickly, he wiped away the one that was threatening to escape. 

Castiel just stared at his hunter.  He wanted to kiss him again, tell him that things were going to be okay (even though they clearly weren’t).  But he instead just gazed, with sadness and love in his eyes.  Softly, he said the other’s name, and a somewhat familiar scene flashed in his mind.  Where Castiel was telling Dean to leave him in a world of monsters, and Dean refused to go without him, despite the dangers.    

“I understand,” Cassiel said, being compelled to say that after the vision that he had quickly seen.  Despite him not wanting Dean to get hurt, he also knew that the human would find a way up to heaven with or without him.  It was in his nature.

Dean smiled. 

Even though they would likely die in this final battle, he at least wouldn’t be apart from his angel.


	29. Borne on Wings of Steel

Castiel and Gabriel escorted the pair of humans back to heaven’s sanctuary, where a decently sized host of armored angels and the remaining archangels greeted them.  Hannah had summoned most of the remnants of her army that she had previously left in heaven to protect the souls; she figured here was where they would make their final stand, and so here was where they were needed.  The souls remained in their personal heavens for now, with only her lieutenant and a small elite force with him to act as their bodyguards.  But she – and the rest of the angels – knew that if this army were to fall here, the souls were likely not going to survive either.  Her lieutenant had been thinking of ways to evacuate heaven, to find somewhere to safely guide the souls, but it really made no difference; Chaos would find them wherever they went.    

She stood in front of her army, her seraph’s wings large and looming; even with the archangels present, it was once again clear that she was the one who was truly in command of heaven’s forces. 

Cassiel was in his armor by the time he entered heaven, and Dean couldn’t help but admire how valiant his angel appeared.  He stared for a few seconds, but was knocked out of his trance when Gabriel shoved one of the pieces of the Staff of Moses in his face.

“Here,” Gabriel said.  Dean took the piece, and watched as the golden-winged archangel gave the second part over to Sam.  “You two are gonna need these.”

“Wouldn’t it make more sense if one of you had them?”  Sam asked, taking the piece gently. 

“Maybe, but the rest of us will make do with the five.  If you guys are gonna be fighting in this thing, we’re going to make sure you have _some_ protection.  Those guns of yours aren’t exactly going to be much use against any of Chaos’ dark angels.”  Gabriel dug through the bag, giving out the weapons to his comrades.  He of course, kept his Horn of Truth.  To Ramiel, he handed over David’s Sling.  The gentle archangel closed her eyes and said a soft prayer; the sling glowed and changed into a large radiant white bow. 

“Woah!”  Dean said, his eyes widening.  “How’d you do that?”

She giggled, looking over her weapon fondly.  “This is the true form of the sling, when an archangel wields it.  You just need to know the words.  All of heaven’s weapons have their secondary forms, which are more powerful than their dormant states.  And, of course, able to be used more practically in battle.”

Dean watched as the weapons transformed one by one.  The dinky little knife that was the Spear of Destiny became a large golden scythe of light in Castiel’s hands.  It was practically _sparkling_ , actually.  Cassiel held it fondly, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, basking in its power. 

Balthazar had received Lot’s Salt, which Gabriel had changed into a flail, with the Salt itself becoming spiked.  “Hit anyone with that,” Gabriel explained, “and they’ll crumble just like Raphael did.”  Balthazar smiled. 

Hannah was the one to open the Ark of the Covenant and retrieve the two holy tablets of stone inside.  For her, these tablets transformed into dual blades after enveloping her in a soft yellow light.  “I feel…stronger,” she said, looking down at herself.  The tablets temporarily gifted her with an archangel’s strength and wisdom.        

“Doesn’t yours change?”  Sam asked Gabriel, when the Horn of Truth seemed to do nothing after the archangel said his soft prayer to it.  Gabriel just winked and replied, “Oh mine changes in a way you can’t see just yet.”

Raguel, unfortunately, was left without one of heaven’s weapons.  She didn’t seem to mind, however, summoning forth her own sword.     

Sam and Dean stood off to the side, watching as Hannah spoke to her host in Enochian.  From her tone, she was giving one of those final battle speeches which the two brothers had always seen in movies.  They both wished they were able to understand her in that moment, each feeling as though they could use the extra encouragement.  

Cassiel glided over to the brothers, landing softly in front of them. 

“I want the two of you to stay together as much as possible, and try to stay out of the main fray.  I’ll be watching over you as much as I can, but trust in the Staff if the worst happens.”

Neither one of them wanted to be reminded of the fact that the worst that could happen was the most likely scenario at this rate: that Chaos would win this battle, slaughter the remaining angels, and cover heaven in a blanket of Darkness. 

“Sam, Dean…”  Cas looked at each of them fondly, yet also sadly.  “I…I may not remember all of our time together, but…I am glad to have met you both.  Truly, I am.  You both are the some of the finest beings I’ve ever been able to encounter in all of my time being alive.” 

“Cas…”  Dean whispered softly.  He stared into his angel’s eyes – which if possible were _bluer_ in heaven than even on Earth – and decided to do something that even surprised him.  As Castiel turned to walk away, Dean grabbed the archangel’s hand to spin him around and kiss him roughly…desperately.  He shockingly didn’t even care that Sam (who awkwardly shifted his body away from the couple) was right there.  This might be the last time he could feel Castiel’s lips on his own.  Dean secretly regretted all the times he did not acknowledge his deeper feelings for his best friend…

When the two pulled apart from each other, Castiel’s expression was initially one of shock; he _also_ wasn’t expecting Dean to do something like that.  But it melted into a loving smile, and he gently put his hand on the back of Dean’s head and guided their foreheads together.  The both closed their eyes and breathed deeply, forgetting for a moment that they were not alone.  It was only when Gabriel loudly cleared his throat that their eyes opened and they recognized again the bleak reality of where they were. 

Castiel turned to rejoin his brother, flying back over to his position next to Gabriel.  Dean didn’t take his eyes off the archangel, feeling his chest tighten.  He knew that their prospects of survival were near zero.  That didn’t stop Sam, however, from smirking over in Dean’s direction.

“So…”  Sam started.  Dean whipped his head around to glare at his younger brother.

“Shut your face.”

Sam put up his hands defensively, but did as he was told.  His smirk remained, however.  He always had a feeling there was something deeper between Dean and Castiel, and was glad to see that it had finally come to fruition, even if it was unfortunately very late. 

They watched the angels take their positions, and waited.

\-----

Before long, the smoke of the Darkness began to leak through heaven.  It was slow, which was not what Dean and Sam had been expecting.  They had been anticipating Chaos to swing the gates open, guns blazing, but really…that wasn’t her style.  She was on her way, and was letting her opponents know that she was coming; she _wanted_ a fight.  After all, wanting more than a little bedlam was in her very nature. 

The angels were even more apprehensive once they saw the clouds of smoke penetrating heaven’s light.  They gripped tighter onto their weapons, but waited for orders from Hannah, who told them to hold until they saw the physical manifestation of their enemy.  The archangels had flown high into the air, observing from above.  Dean and Sam waited in the spot where Castiel had told them to stay; neither would admit that they were more scared of this than of anything else they had faced before.  And neither would show any fear on their faces.

After all, they too, were soldiers.

The smoke began to get thicker and heavier, pouring into heaven with greater speed and density. 

Suddenly, Ramiel shot an arrow into the Darkness, blowing away some of it with a bright light. 

“Didn’t expect you to make the first move, of all your brothers and sisters,” they all heard the goddess’ voice say, and she stepped out of the shadows to reveal herself.  Despite heaven’s light weakening her somewhat, none of the angels could tell, for she had her army at her back.  Sam and Dean could pick out the angels that had fallen among her troops; Raphael, Michael, Naomi, Uriel…they were all behind Chaos, with hallowed eyes and smoke surrounding their bodies. 

Lucifer stepped up next to Chaos, and in his hand was the corrupted Fate-Killing Blade.  Following him was Metatron and Rowena, with Crowley and Adam.  The two demons still had those purple hues obscuring their eye; the witch was still in control. 

“Begone from this realm!”  Raguel shouted from above, her eyes narrowing as she clenched her sword tightly.  She particularly was unhappy to see her older brother and the traitorous scribe; in her eyes, they were even worse than the goddess, because they betrayed their family. 

“Why not we skip the formalities, my dear?”  Chaos then outstretched her hand, ordering her army to charge forward.  The dark angels obeyed without a thought, flying past her and clashing with the angelic army that Hannah had lead against them in that moment.  Dean and Sam watched as the seraph plunged her twin blades into the chest of the first enemy she encountered, fighting with a ferocity that both were somewhat surprised to witness.  The normally laid-back Balthazar was too, fighting intensely; every dark angel he swung his flail into crumbled into dust. 

The archangels initially waited, each searching for a particular target; Ramiel was assisting the army with hails of arrows, looping and spinning to dodge dark blades when enemies responded to her.  Gabriel and Cassiel began to dive down towards Chaos, but the goddess encircled herself in an orb of blackness; the smoke swirled around her like a storm, and Darkness spit out in all directions, heading towards the different corners of heaven. 

She was infecting everything.

Lucifer stretched out his giant wings and came to blows against Gabriel, wielding the once-holy weapon against his younger brother.  Gabriel had his Horn in one hand and a light sword in the other, parrying Lucifer’s swing and evading his attack.  When the two clashed together, a shockwave emitted from their weapons, causing an intense gust of wind which almost threw Sam and Dean off their feet.  As Cassiel was about to turn around to assist Gabriel, the undead Raphael tackled him mid-air, causing the archangel to crash towards the ground in a tangled mess with his opponent. 

“Cas!”  Dean saw Castiel crash, and was about to run over to him, only for Crowley and Adam to block his path.  They each were smiling creepily, and Dean could hear the growling sounds of hellhounds; how could those damned dogs even survive up here in all this light?

“Hello boys,” Rowena practically sang, appearing behind her two henchmen.  “Finally.  I’ve been waiting for my chance to do this to you two.”  She chanted something in a different language, and Adam charged at the brothers with Crowley’s hounds.  Sam and Dean held up their pieces of the Staff of Moses, but nothing seemed to happen at first.  They cursed, and decided to pull out their guns despite Gabriel’s warning that they wouldn’t really help them.  Of course, the archangel was right; the bullets that they poured into the hounds and Adam did nothing to stop their pursuit. 

“Come on, you damned thing, _work!_ ”  Dean shouted at his piece of the Staff, which finally seemed to activate, shooting a beam of light into the Knight of Hell.  Adam was blown backwards, past Rowena and Crowley, hitting the ground a few times.  Just as Dean was about to celebrate his hit, however, one of the hellhounds knocked him off his feet.

“Dean!”  Sam ran to his brother’s side, and kicked the hellhound off.  The second hound latched onto Sam’s leg, causing the younger Winchester to also fall, yelling out in pain.  He used his piece of the Staff to hit the hellhound off him; every time the Staff made contact with the beast, it let out a small burst of light.  The light hurt Crowley’s pet, eventually causing it to release Sam, whose leg was now bleeding profusely due to the bites and scratches he sustained.  He was having trouble standing again, causing his brother to rush over to him.  Dean put Sam’s arm over his shoulders and helped him back up. 

“You two just don’t give up, do you?”  Rowena was annoyed at the brothers’ persistence; they were clearly outmatched and yet somehow never seemed to stay down. 

“Not in our nature, lady.  Thought you’d have that figured out by now?”  Dean was glaring at the witch, still supporting the weight of his little brother.  Rowena just waved her hand, dismissively. 

“Unfortunately.”  She again spoke in that language that neither brother understood, calling the hounds and both her demons back to her side.  Dean saw that as an opportunity to shoot her with the staff, but a black cloud of smoke shielded her and her pets at the last possible moment.  When the smoke cleared, they had all disappeared.   

Meanwhile, Cassiel had gotten back into the air, facing off once again against Raphael.  The dark archangel was not alone this time, however, as Michael appeared next to him.  Castiel cursed softly under his breath, and flew further upward, folding his wings in and spinning to avoid the dark shadows that threatened to cut him.  He knew the two were pursuing him, and so, he quickly cut a sharp corner and switched his direction, to attack them head-on.  They seemed taken off guard, which Castiel took advantage of: he swung his scythe in a horizontal fashion, cutting both dark angels across the stomachs. 

At first, nothing seemed to happen.  Cassiel was sure he had hit them…was Chaos really so powerful as to shield them from even that, while in _heaven_?  As his morale dropped, he then noticed a soft light coming from the cuts.  Both Michael and Raphael looked down at their wounds, and the light became more intense, enveloping them from the inside.  Castiel watched as the Darkness surrounding them dissipated; they began to scream and their skin began glowing.  It was almost as if their insides were lit on fire.   

Unable to listen to his brothers cries, Castiel again sliced at the dark angels; this time he took off both of their heads in one fell swoop.  Their bodies disappeared with a puff of smoke and returned back to the goddess, who was still encased in her protective orb.

He looked down at the carnage; although Hannah was admirably leading the angelic forces against the Darkness, it seemed as though with every enemy destroyed, another three took its place.  Even with Ramiel’s assistance from above, her holy arrows hitting each mark they aimed for, they didn’t seem to be making a dent in Chaos’ overall army.  Raguel had pursued Metatron – having a personal vendetta against him – but the scribe was well-protected; she was fighting hordes of dark angels all on her own, and there was no way that even she could last for very much longer.  Angels were being pierced with blades of shadow, their lights going out and wings turning to ash.   

That was when Gabriel, who knocked Lucifer down at one point, blew his horn.

The sound was warm, enveloping heaven’s forces (including the two humans) almost like an embrace.  All wounds were healed and energies restored. 

Hannah yelled out in Enochian, eliciting a battle cry in response from her army. 

But despite the morale boost and physical recoveries, Castiel knew that they wouldn’t last very much longer; Chaos’ forces were still overwhelming the angels, who were dying left and right.  And _unlike_ the goddess, heaven’s forces were not near-eternal.  To make matters even worse, with every angel that perished, another soldier was added to the Darkness.     

Castiel knew who he had to go after. 

He saw an opportunity; with all of her forces occupied, Castiel dove down towards the black orb that Chaos had enveloped herself in towards the beginning of the battle.  He hacked away at the shadows with his scythe, trying to pierce the dark armor. 

Lucifer had tried to turn around to pursue Cassiel, but Gabriel blocked him, making a double of himself in the process.  The Devil just sighed.

“I thought we went over this, little brother.  You learned all your tricks from _me_ ,” he said, almost exasperatedly. 

“Not quite,” Gabriel responded, before making more copies.  Soon, he had around ten of himself circling the fallen archangel, moving around quickly in order to keep Lucifer guessing as to which one of him was real.  “I’ve learned some new things since you’ve been away!”

Lucifer clicked his teeth in annoyance, and slashed at the copy he thought was the actual Gabriel.  But the angel’s duplicate just faded, and was quickly replaced with a new one. 

“Oops, guess you were wrong!  Wanna try that again?”  The trickster taunted, much to Lucifer’s annoyance.

Castiel continued his assault, grateful that Gabriel and his other siblings were holding their own and giving him this opportunity.  He sliced and slashed, his strength not fading despite how many times he swung his gigantic weapon.  There was no way that her shadows could hold up forever against him.

Suddenly, the orb cracked.

The shadows slowly dissipated around the goddess, who dodged the next swipe of Castiel’s scythe without effort.  The archangel kept trying to hit her, following her into the air as she ascended, but she evaded every attack, looking almost bored.  Just as he was about to swing again, however, some of her shadow grabbed hold of his arms and legs, suspending him motionless in the air.  He struggled against them, letting go of a smiting light from his free palm, but the goddess didn’t seem fazed. 

“Cassiel, you have surprised me a few times, I’ll admit.  Your light is brighter than your brothers and sisters.  But now it’s time to put that out…”  She said while guiding her shadows around the archangel’s head. 

Dean had been watching all of this unfold, and felt a panic rush over him when he saw Chaos grab a hold of his angel.  Without thinking, he began to run towards them, barely even hearing Sam call out his name.  The younger Winchester had tried to follow, but the witch and her pair of demons materialized again, stopping Sam and forcing him to face them on his own.  Dean – unaware of Sam’s predicament – kept sprinting, clutching onto the Staff tightly; he figured if he could get close enough, he could shoot Chaos and at least force her to release Castiel…

At least, that was the plan.   

But instead, the beam of light never made contact with the goddess; she had one of her dark angels materialize from her shadows and step in front of her to act as her shield.  Although she did not release Castiel, her focus _did_ shift to Dean.  Darkness surrounded the hunter and closed in on him; he felt like he couldn’t breathe for a moment.  Chaos lowered herself and Castiel to the ground. 

“Dean Winchester.  I wanted you to survive.  You would have been perfect in my world,” she said, almost sadly.  Dean grimaced, his teeth clenching as the shadows seemed to envelop his entire being.  He could see blackness around his eyes as his vision began to blur, and he gasped for air. 

“No!”  Castiel cried out and his eyes began to glow.  He had to save Dean…he could die but Dean had to live through this…

But Chaos had been anticipating that reaction.  From her previous encounters with Cassiel, she knew by now that the human was something special to the archangel, and that his power and light seemed to grow exponentially whenever Dean was in trouble.  Why, she wasn’t completely sure, but that was of no concern to her, really.  She didn’t care about the why, only the how.   

“Now you’re mine…”  She grinned wickedly and turned again back towards the archangel.  Most of the shadows released Dean; he could feel himself breathe again.  Unfortunately, he still couldn’t move, and so he was forced to watch.

Forced to watch Chaos maneuver her Darkness down Castiel’s throat. 

The archangel stiffened, and his eyes went wide.  At first, they continued to glow intensely.  He tried to fight against the hold the shadows still had over him, but with more Darkness entering his body, he became weaker and weaker.  And Chaos was sparing no expense; she was pouring wave after wave of blackness into Castiel’s mouth and body.  She was planning on suppressing that light from within the archangel before he could use it against her.  And she knew how bright this angel burned.

Dean was screaming, but his voice seemed to fade into nothingness; Castiel soon couldn’t hear anything other than the sound of the shadows working their way inside him.  He was suffocating on them.  Slowly.  Painfully. 

Soon there was nothing but darkness.   

The light faded from his eyes before closing, and Cassiel’s hand dropped his weapon.  It clattered to the ground almost pathetically as the archangel went limp in Chaos’ hold.  She released him, watching as his lifeless body sank to the floor. 

And then Dean was forced to watch as that lifeless form remained still for a few minutes.  Still, and then…movement.  Castiel almost lazily got back to his feet.     

Dean was forced to look into hollow blackness when Castiel opened his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm so so sorry about the lengthy wait for this one! I got a full time temp job and then got really sick so it took me a while to get back in the groove. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long!


	30. Edge of Forever

Sam was calling out to him.  Shouting his name over and over, trying to get his attention.  But to Dean, his little brother’s voice was but a low muffle.  His legs felt weak, and he almost slunk to his knees, not exactly knowing what strength kept him standing on his feet.  He never took his eyes off Castiel, even as the now dark angel slowly moved towards him with a shadowy blade emerging in his right hand.  Chaos had whispered something to her agent before disappearing behind her cloud of Darkness once again. 

“Cas…”

After a brief hesitation, the angel kept pursuing, his steps slow and heavy. 

Perhaps he imagined it.  Perhaps he just _wanted_ it to be true…but Dean could have sworn that once he whispered his angel’s name, he saw a flash of blue in those darkened hollow eyes.    

Was Castiel still _in there_? 

“Cas!”  The second time he shouted Castiel’s nickname, Dean was louder and more frantic.  He was looking for that flash of blue again.  For that indication that the archangel’s light was still dimly shining under all that blackness, struggling to stay lit. 

But no such indication appeared a second time.

The only reason why Cassiel’s blade did not cut Dean in half was because the dark angel was forced to dodge a light arrow from piercing his chest.  He looked up, and jumped up and away when a second one followed, threatening to sink into his flesh.  The dark angel backed off, flying back towards Chaos for the time being, but not before giving the human one last emotionless look.  Dean exhaled loudly and scanned around, waiting to see if Cas would turn back in his direction.  Instead, when he looked above, he saw Ramiel flying down to him.  Softly, she landed, and shot another arrow towards Chaos’ aegis, unfortunately doing what looked like no damage. 

“Your brother,” she said, grabbing Dean’s wrist and flying with him in Sam’s direction.  The younger Winchester was still squaring off against Rowena and her demons; the Staff of Moses acted as his temporary protector, shielding him with a reflective barrier as the hounds, Crowley, and Adam attacked it.  It was weakening by the second. 

Fortunately for Sam, Ramiel dropped Dean behind the witch before ascending into the air again.  She fired arrows in the direction of his attackers, while Dean used his half of the Staff of Moses to shoot at Rowena.  The witch quickly said another spell and the beam of light seemed to deflect off her.  She growled, her glare shifting from Dean to Ramiel.  Before she was pierced with one of the archangel’s arrows, she disappeared in a shadow, with her minions close behind her.    

Ramiel landed as Dean ran over to Sam, helping his little brother back to his feet.  “I must escort you to back to Earth, quickly,” she said, looking around her at the battlefield. 

“What?”  Both brothers spoke in unison, their tone conveying their disbelief and disagreement with what Ramiel just told them.

“You two don’t belong in this battle anymore.  You didn’t to start with.  You two can still _live_!  _Please_!”  She was begging them, at this point.  Ramiel did not want to see the Winchesters die in heaven right here.  She had seen too much bloodshed, too many of her own kin dying and becoming monsters.  It was when she saw Cassiel’s blackened eyes when she lost the remaining hope she had. 

But she could at least rescue his friends.  His _other_ _family_.

The two brothers, however, refused to listen to her.  “No,” Sam said, almost shouting.  “We said we would stay here and fight!  We’re not _leaving_!”

“You heard him,” Dean said in agreement. 

“Please reconsider, I beg you!  Cassiel…he…he would want you both to survive this…”  Her voice wavered a little and she took a deep breath in and out to calm herself.  Now was not the time to mourn her younger brother.  Not when the enemy was all around them.  Quickly and suddenly, she shot two arrows at oncoming dark angels who had targeted the trio, incorrectly believing them to be distracted enough to kill.  Both arrows seemed to explode on contact, causing her dead brothers to return to the Darkness. 

“I…I think Cas is still _alive_ ,” Dean said, earning incredulous looks from both the archangel and his brother.

“Dean…” Sam began, looking sad and sympathetic.  He didn’t want to believe Castiel was gone either, but…even while under attack, Sam was able to see what happened to his angelic friend.  He had been able to see Chaos suffocate him with her shadows.  And he had been able to see the hollowness that had replaced Castiel’s eyes.    

“I _saw_ him!  There was still light in there!  He’s still fighting that crap inside him!”  Truthfully, Dean wasn’t sure he completely believed the statements that he himself was saying, but he had to have faith in it.  Have faith that the archangel was still alive, even when everything indicated that he wasn’t.

He had to have faith in _Cas_. 

But he wasn’t convincing his two companions.

Just as Ramiel was about to open her mouth again to protest, something – or rather, some _one_ – crashed into her; she was knocked off her feet and tumbled slightly away from the Winchesters.  The brothers saw her teal wings tangle with golden ones, as Gabriel struggled to his feet again.  Lucifer hovered in the air above them, with darkness initially swirling around like a barrier.  Suddenly, the dark Castiel flew back to his older brother’s side; his hollowed eyes remained fixated on Dean.   

Ramiel got to her knees and shot at the two in the air, watching as both of them quickly flew out of the way of her arrow.  Gabriel was panting softly; keeping up his tricks against his older brother was becoming quite tiring, and even sounding his horn again didn’t fully recover his stamina. 

“Gabriel, tell them…tell them they must _leave_ ,” Ramiel said in between deep breaths, using her bow to help her stand again.  “Please…”

“You think _I_ can convince these two to do anything?”  Gabriel laughed, though it sounded less heartfelt than his usual demeanor would have allowed.  “Nah.  If they want to stay, we can’t force them to go, sis.  Free will and all that, remember?”

“But-”

“No buts!  Besides,” Gabriel said, smirking in Sam and Dean’s direction, “even if we brought them back down to Earth, they’d just find a way back.  They’re stubborn like that.”

The brothers smiled, grateful to have Gabriel’s support, even if Ramiel’s response was to sigh in aggravation.

“You all are,” she mumbled, earning a smile from her older brother.   

They looked around.  Hannah and Balthazar were still holding their own, but the army was thinning, and thinning at faster rates as more casualties occurred.  Raguel was still fighting wave after wave of darkness, trying to reach Metatron and the demon tablet.  But no matter how much she struggled, it seemed as though the scribe was always out of her reach; Chaos was actively protecting him.  He was, after all, her guide to heaven once this was all completed.  Rowena and her pets were nowhere to be seen for the time being, and the group still had eyes on Lucifer and Castiel, who appeared to be biding their time in the sky. 

“Let me draw Cas away,” Dean then said suddenly, his gaze not tearing away from the dark angel.  “I think he’s only after me…I can separate him from Lucifer and then you guys can take him out.”

“Dean, no!”  Sam was unhappy with his brother’s idea of a plan – to him it just spelled self-sacrifice on Dean’s part; Castiel was _gone_ , and this version of him that Chaos was parading in front of them sought only their deaths.  “You can’t do this!” 

“Why not, Sammy?  Better to separate them than to try and fight them together, right?”  Truthfully, Dean still believed that Cas was alive, and so he thought that if he could isolate his angel, maybe…just _maybe_ he could draw that light out.  It was an idea that he honestly did not believe would work, but…he had to try.  He had to try _something_ besides just sitting here to watch everything unfold. 

“Let me go with you, then,” Sam insisted, his voice wavering ever so slightly.  He had seen his brother die too many times…he didn’t want Dean dying again without him at least there to try and stop it.   

Dean just shook his head.  “I gotta do this on my own.”  And despite all that was happening around them, he then pulled on Sam’s arm to bring the other into an embrace.  It was warm, yet sad; they both were very aware that it could be the last time they would ever be able to do this…that their probabilities of death were extremely high.  “We’ve done good, Sammy.  I’m proud of us.  I’m proud of _you_.”

He repeated the words he had said to Sam when Metatron killed him. 

They were important for Sam to hear again. 

That despite all that had ever come between them, and how many times Dean lashed out at him in anger for anything…nothing could ever take away how much Dean loved his little brother.  And was proud of the man he had become.

When Dean pulled away, there were tears in Sam’s eyes.  He gave one last smile before turning and running away from the group, grateful that Sam did not make a move to follow him.  Dean looked up into the sky; Castiel’s head had turned so that he could continue watching the human but otherwise made no movements. 

“Come on, you asshole!”  Dean wanted to bait the dark angel into following him, which would leave Lucifer alone and open to an attack from the combined efforts of Sam, Gabriel, and Ramiel.  “What, did _mommy_ clip your wings or something?” 

Despite the fact that the emotionless expression on Castiel’s face did not alter, that taunt seemed to work: the archangel turned and flew away from Lucifer, in Dean’s direction.  Dean kept running, turning his head once in a while to see how far he could get away from the group, and how closely Castiel was following him.  At first, the dark angel kept his distance, for some reason.  Dean wasn’t sure why, but just continued to sprint.  He was headed in the direction of Chaos’; Darkness was still swirling around her ferociously to act as her shield as she infected heaven. 

As he got closer and closer to the goddess, it became more and more difficult for him to run; the Darkness produced gusts that almost swept him off of his feet.  It got to a point where he could not see above him anymore; he lost sight of Castiel in the blackness.  He stopped and looked around, trying to find the angel despite the dark winds all around his person. 

“Cas…?  Cas, where are you?”  Dean was shouting, but the sound of the swirling Darkness dwarfed his voice.  Again, he repeated the angel’s name, pivoting around to try and find him.  Did Cas return to Lucifer?  If he did, then Dean had to get back to Sam…he had to protect him…

But once Dean was about to start running back, the archangel appeared a few feet in front of him.  Dean hoped to see blue where he instead saw black, but that wouldn’t deter him.  He _knew_ what he had witnessed before. 

Cas was in there.  And Dean was going to pull him out from under that Darkness even if it killed him.

“Cas, listen.  I know you’re in there,” he said, as the angel began to take steps towards him.  He remembered their encounter in Lucifer’s crypt.  “I know you can hear me.”  He purposely repeated the words he said before, hoping that they would work once again.  “I know you can fight this!  You’re stronger than any of that poison that she put inside of you!” 

Castiel stopped for a moment.  For the first time, his eyes looked away from Dean, and the dark angel grimaced and groaned.  Dean couldn’t help but smile a little – there…that told him that his angel was still fighting from the inside.  That his light remained in there, still burning hotly.   

But that moment passed almost as quickly as it came; Castiel’s emotionless expression returned, and his trudging steps toward the human resumed.  In his hand, he summoned a shadowy sword.  Dean looked from the sword to Castiel’s face, and held up his half of the Staff of Moses.  Unfortunately, when he tried to summon forth anything from it, nothing happened; the Darkness in the immediate area was too strong for the half of the angelic weapon.  Maybe if an angel was wielding it, it would have worked…but Dean knew that he could not tap into its true power. 

“Cas…Cas, it’s _me_!  Fight this!”  Again, Dean shouted, hoping his voice would travel over the howling of the winds and pierce through the Darkness to reach the true Castiel inside that body.   

“Stop…”  The dark angel groaned again, but this time actually said something.  “Stop this…”

Dean chose to ignore the little warning bells ringing off in his head when he took the few steps needed to close the gap between him and Castiel.  When he was standing across from his friend, he dropped the Staff from his hands.  “Come on, Cas.  I know you’re stronger than this.  Don’t let her do this to you!  I know you’re still in there!”

Suddenly, Castiel’s hand was wrapped around Dean’s throat, choking him as he lifted the human up into the air.  Dean struggled against the strength of Castiel’s grip, clawing at the angel’s hand and kicking his feet to try and escape, but to no avail.  The dark angel looked downright furious; his teeth gritting together as though he was in tremendous pain.  When Dean sputtered his name again, Castiel threw the human more than a few feet away; Dean landed hard on his shoulder and tumbled, yelping out from the shock of pain which coursed through him. 

“Fight this, Cas,” he said in between coughs.  Dean brought himself back to his feet, but as soon as he did, Castiel was in his face again, punching him in the gut.  Gasping for air, the human was forced back onto his knees as his legs gave way underneath him.  He looked up at the angel’s face; Castiel was holding his blade up, pointed at Dean.

Images of the crypt flashed through Dean’s mind.

“Cas…we’re family…I need you…”

“That isn’t going to work, Dean Winchester.”

The goddess materialized behind the pair; her protective orb of Darkness now swirled around all three of them.  Dean looked back to see her; she appeared stronger than she even looked at the beginning of this battle, with a confident yet serious look on her face.  “Your angel is gone.  None of your appeals will reach him.” 

Dean cursed at her, earning a swift smack from Castiel as a result. 

“Enough of this.  Cassiel, finish him off,” Chaos commanded.

“Cas, no…”  Dean weakly pleaded with his friend.  “You’re in there, Cas…listen to me…”  He could feel his strength fading with every word, but he still forced himself to stand once again.  His face was inches apart from Castiel’s; the angel returned to having an emotionless expression once the goddess had shown herself.  “Cas-”

The remainder of his sentence stuck in his throat, however, when he felt Castiel’s dark blade pierce his stomach. 

It was swift and unexpected, with no warning.  Castiel’s appearance remained stoic and almost uninterested.  Dean coughed and tasted blood in his mouth.  The only reason he did not fall to the ground was because Castiel did not pull his sword from Dean’s body.  The human remained impaled and standing.

“Cas…”  Dean knew he was going to die here.  It was the last opportunity he would have.

He brought his shaky hand to Castiel’s cheek as a tear escaped one of his eyes.  He did not allow his gaze to fall from the archangel’s face.

And he smiled.

“I love you.”

There was no reaction from Castiel, other than for him to finally pull the blade out of Dean’s body.  He watched as the hunter’s legs gave way and he fell to the floor, bleeding profusely.  Red stained the ground of heaven, as Dean’s breathing became shorter and more ragged. 

“Good.  Now let’s get this over with,” Chaos said, after turning her back to the pair.  But as she moved, she noticed that her dark agent was not following her.  In fact…she felt her hold over him becoming weaker all of a sudden. 

Rapidly weaker.

When she looked at them again, Castiel was still standing, but his head was down; he was watching Dean closely.  His shoulders were hunched, and his body was shaking.

“…Dean…”  He mumbled to himself.  The goddess heard him say the human’s name again and again and again, becoming louder and louder with each repetition. 

Finally, he looked up at her.

“Impossible…!”  The goddess’ eyes widened when she saw his face.

Castiel had tears running down his cheeks, and his black eyes were flashing blue-white.  His hands balled into fists, and he began to scream loudly.  Chaos looked on, trying to keep her Darkness deep inside the angel. 

How…?  How was this possible?  Certainly her Darkness had vanquished all light within him…?

Instead, she watched as her blackness became expelled from Castiel’s body, coming out of his mouth in powerful waves.  As much as she poured into him before, he regurgitated back out now.  For some reason, she couldn’t get the Darkness to stay inside the angel’s vessel. 

A bright beam of light soared out of Castiel, piercing the black orb that had surrounded them and dissipating much of the Darkness.  The light stretched farther and farther into the sky, spearing almost endless. 

From that light, six massive wings emerged. 

Dean – who was struggling to stay conscious – recognized them.

He had seen them in dreams.

The massive starry black wings with a thousand blue eyes.

Castiel’s wings.

His _true_ wings.

What emerged from the light was something that Dean never thought he would be able to look upon. 

Gigantic, and almost monster-like in appearance, the creature had four heads.  Three of them were animals – a ram, a zebra, and a bird – and the one that was facing forward almost looked like a blank mask.  It was all white, shaped like a human head, with a bright halo circling it.    

When the creature opened its eyes, it had six of them. 

They were blue and glowing ferociously with grace.     

“Cas…”  Dean spoke weakly, but he knew what he was gazing upon. 

It was Castiel.  His true form.

And he was terrifyingly beautiful.

Chaos seemed to panic; all her dark angels disappeared suddenly, and returned back to her; she created an incredible cloud of dark smoke around her body, and she ascended into the air, wanting her Darkness to become as big as the archangel.  She was going to surround him with it, and have it corrupt and destroy that burning light once and for all.  She wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. 

But she didn’t get too far before Castiel had a four-fingered hand raised, blasting her and her Darkness with a powerful light, causing some of it to disappear and her to grind her teeth together.

“This is impossible!  You’re just an angel!  You can’t have this sort of power!”

Castiel didn’t respond verbally; he outstretched his arms, and one by one, the angelic weapons surrounded him.  The pieces of the Staff of Moses came together as one, and each weapon returned to its dormant state.  While Lucifer tried to keep hold on the Fate-Killing Blade, it became hot in his hands.  Too hot and too bright for him; he dropped it and watched as Castiel’s light invaded and purified the holy weapon once again.

Soon, all seven of the weapons surrounded the archangel’s massive form. 

They began to orbit around him, starting out slow but soon moved faster and faster.  Sparks of white lightning flashed between them, and Castiel’s incredible voice boomed throughout heaven as he started chanting in Enochian.  The weapons glowed hot and white, and began to practically spit rays of light across heaven, to counteract the Darkness that Chaos had sent across the realm. 

The goddess was gathering her shadows around herself again. 

She noticed something though.

A glowing white wisp descended from above and circled Castiel’s heads. 

“No…”  She gasped.  “No, this…this can’t be!”

Before she could act, Castiel finished the chant and clasped his hands together as though he was praying.  One by one, light encircled her allies.  She watched it overtake the witch first, with Rowena screaming loudly as it encompassed her entire body.  Metatron was next; the scribe dropped the demon tablet in his attempt to escape from the light, but he was unable to evade its pursuit.  Lucifer was the only one the light took without any sort of sound or fight; the archangel just closed his eyes and allowed it to overtake him slowly. 

Finally, it was her turn. 

The wisp that was surrounding Castiel’s heads moved to her, circling her slowly.

“You…”

Following the wisp, the weapons also surrounded Chaos, orbiting her as they had orbited Castiel.  The Darkness all around her slowly seemed to melt away into nothing, until only the goddess herself remained, fighting against the light that began to creep up into her veins.  She struggled but did not scream; she would not give the agents of heaven the satisfaction of hearing that from her.  The light around her became chains, binding her entire being and forcing her still.  Slowly, white crept up her body.  She stopped fighting it; her eyes narrowed and she took a deep breath in and out.   

“I will become free again.  It’s only a matter of time…Yahweh.”

Those were her last words of warning before the light overtook her face.

The shockwave that emitted immediately afterwards was powerful, but it was warm as well.  Where the goddess once stood was now a small ball of black and white, glowing faintly.  Castiel said something to summon the orb to him, where it became embedded into his arm, creating a symbol that was similar – but different in appearance – to the Mark of Cain. 

One by one, the weapons faded and fell to the ground; the wisp of light returned to Castiel slowly.  It circled his head two times, before Castiel held his giant hand out.  The wisp landed on his palm, and transformed into a silhouette.  Dean could see the outline of a man, but didn’t know who it was.  Blackness was beginning to tunnel his vision; he had already lost a ton of blood and was surprised that he hadn’t succumbed already. 

Slowly, Castiel bent down to put his palm on the ground.  Dean heard the man’s footsteps coming closer to him, but still couldn’t see anything.  He was gasping for air, struggling to stay alive.

All of a sudden, warmth enveloped him, starting at his wound.  It spread to his entire body, and slowly, Dean’s vision returned to him.  

When the blurs cleared, he saw the face of God.       

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, again I'm so sorry for the lengthy wait! I thought I would have more time than I did but some personal things came up and I had a lot of trouble with this chapter, to be quite honest! But I hope it was enjoyable, at least! The next one should be the last, and now that my temp job has ended, I have more time to try and get it done quicker! Thanks for being so patient with me! You guys are the best! <3


	31. Here Comes the Sun

Although over a dozen questions immediately flashed through Dean’s mind, he couldn’t find the words to vocalize any of them.  Instead, he just stared up at Chuck with his mouth half open.  Even when God held out his hand for the human to take, Dean remained still, unmoving and unable to process what the hell just happened.  His wound was completely gone, and – physically, at least – he did not at all feel as though he had just been in a heavenly and apocalyptic battle.  His eyes darted from Chuck to the gigantic creature he knew was Castiel.  How was he able to see Cas without his eyes burning out of his skull?  How had he been able to hear his voice without his eardrums rupturing?  Was that God’s influence?  It had to have been.  What other explanation was there? 

“Dean!”  Sam’s voice snapped Dean out of his trance; he looked over to see his little brother running towards them, with Gabriel and Ramiel flying above.  Immediately, a relieved sigh escaped Dean’s lips; Sam was alive and unharmed, it appeared.  Further away, Dean could also make out Raguel, Balthazar, and Hannah, who too were making their ways over to where God was standing. 

Obviously, all of them were astonished – and confused – about what had just occurred. 

“Dean,” Chuck said, softly, drawing Dean’s gaze back to Him.  He still had His hand outstretched for the hunter to take.  Slowly, almost cautiously, Dean allowed God to help him to his feet.  But before he could get any words out, Sam had practically crashed into him, enveloping his big brother in a tight embrace. 

Neither Winchester could believe that they were alive.  And that they had _won_. 

“Father!”  Ramiel landed, light on her feet, and rushed over to Chuck’s side.  But rather than embrace Him as Sam had done to Dean, she just held her hands up to His face.  She was obviously shaking, nervous to touch Him; she feared that if she did, He would disappear again.  “Is it…really…?”  Her eyes shone with tears when her fingers came in contact with Chuck’s skin.  And when He nodded, those tears flowed freely down her cheeks while she laughed and smiled wide.

“Yes, my child.”  He took her hands off His face so He could hold them in His own, and when He did, Ramiel’s legs seemed to cave under her as she sank to her knees.  Behind her, Gabriel just stared at his Father with a wide-eyed expression of disbelief, while Hannah, Balthazar, and Raguel landed next to him with similar emotions plastered on their faces. 

“How?  We all saw you die,” Sam said, pulling himself apart from Dean.  “Chaos killed you, back at the playground.” 

“Yes and no,” Chuck said, gesturing for Ramiel to rise again.  She did, wiping her tears away before backing up to stand next to her brothers and sisters.  “Chaos and I…cannot truly _kill_ one another, because we are two sides of the same coin.  She and I complete each other.  I cannot exist without her, and she cannot exist without me.”

“So where the hell did you run off to then?”  Dean’s tone was harsher than perhaps necessary (earning him a glare from Raguel), but he was suspicious.  He couldn’t help but be – God seemed to have a knack for disappearing (or never appearing in the first place) right when things got tough.  “We could’ve used your help a lot earlier.”

Chuck sighed, almost apologetically.  “While she can’t kill me, she can render me…well, let’s just say I couldn’t even manifest physically until just now.  I was too weak.  I spilled a lot of my blood and energy in sealing the gate.  I had hoped to keep her out of heaven for as long as I could without actually being around.  I knew she was going to win that battle…which is why I allowed her to get rid of me so quickly.  I needed to make sure heaven was protected.”

“Yeah, and in the process you caused a lot of people and angels to die,” Dean said, crossing his arms. 

“If she had won that battle without my sealing the gate, she would have taken over heaven immediately.  It had to be done,” Chuck responded, firmly yet not unkindly.  “I couldn’t return; she was too powerful, and her Darkness too strong.”  He turned, looking up to smile at Castiel.  The angel brought his heads down so that his mask-like face was level with his Father’s.  “There needed to be a commanding source of light for me to draw energy from and once again maintain a physical form.”  He reached out and touched Castiel’s face gently. 

“The weapons,” Sam said, realization dawning on him.  “Balthazar had said that they would create a godlike light and power when put together.” 

“Not just the weapons, though,” Chuck clarified, looking back at the brothers.  “Cassiel too.”  Suddenly, a bright light shone from God’s hand and seemed to travel into Castiel.  “I’m sorry for ever taking these from you…” 

Castiel’s six eyes closed for a moment, and the angel emitted a low and loud hum as the light faded.  When he opened them again, they immediately traveled to Dean.  

“Wait, what’d you just do?”  Dean couldn’t help but turn red with those gigantic blue orbs staring at him so intensely.

“I’ve returned to him the memories of you that I took,” God explained.  He then chuckled lowly.  “Though it appears I didn’t do a great job to begin with, as fragments of them were cracking through his mind anyway.  Serves me right for underestimating my most surprising creation.” 

Once He said that, Castiel’s entire body began to glow a pure white, soon changing shape to appear like grace.  The light moved slowly to circle Dean once; the hunter immediately felt warm and happy in its embrace.  Then, the grace traveled to re-inhabit its vessel, which had been motionless on the ground.

“Cas?”  Dean rushed past God and knelt down to caress his angel’s cheeks, waiting anxiously until he saw blue eyes open.  Once he did, the hunter couldn’t help but grin in relief. 

“Hello Dean,” Castiel whispered, smiling softly up at his human.  Dean helped Cas to his feet, before grabbing the angel and dragging him into his arms.  He buried his face into Castiel’s neck, not wanting to let go, and once again not caring that the two of them had an audience.

“How the shit did you do that?”  Dean laughed while he asked his question, still clinging onto the angel he loved so dearly.  He could feel tears in his eyes but refused to allow them to fall right now. 

“I…I don’t know.”

“It was his love for you, Dean.”

The pair finally separated just so that they could look at Chuck after he spoke. 

“I was wrong about you, Cassiel,” God said, earning many surprised reactions.  He just chuckled in response.  “Yes, yes…rare for a being who is considered omniscient to admit when He is wrong, I know.”  He took a few steps toward Dean and Castiel.  “I believed that you would fall and die because of your love for humanity.  Because of your love for the righteous man.  But it has, in fact, made you stronger and brighter.”

“But Father…isn’t falling _in_ love with a human forbidden?  Blasphemous?”  Hannah couldn’t help her confusion when she spoke; after all, the higher ups in heaven had – for her entire existence – made sure that was clear.  That they were to protect humanity and to love them, but never _fall_ for them.  To never, for instance, produce a Nephilim.  Those who did were considered practically traitorous.

“Yes, but…that was my own fear.  I feared humanity’s darkness would destroy my angels.  I wanted to protect them.”

“Humanity’s…darkness?”  Sam didn’t like the sound of that, considering who they had just fought and locked away.

Chuck nodded, feeling the need to explain in more detail.  “Chaos and her Darkness…they are not _evil_.  Actually, her desire for freedom could be considered good, at least to many humans.  If I could, I would have her with me, overseeing this universe together.  But…she is pure.  Overwhelming.  Her freedom leaves no morality…no inhibitions.  Just self-preservation and self-desires, which evil thrives under.”  God’s expression turned remorseful.  “Because of that, she cannot truly ever love…”

Sam raised an eyebrow; something about God’s expression had him wondering.  “Did…do you…?”  He allowed the question to remain unasked, hanging in the air. 

But Chuck didn’t answer, choosing only to smile sadly and knowingly at the hunter before continuing.  “I was afraid of that freedom.  Hence why I created the angels…beings of pure light.  My archangels fought her back and imprisoned her…but I soon came to realize that they were not the ideal creatures I had imagined.  They followed orders and obeyed me but…perhaps her Darkness was infectious, as I soon began to desire that they had some of that freedom that Chaos had clung to.  So, when I fashioned humanity, I instilled in it both my Light and her Darkness.  My Light in the forms of morality and conscience, and her Darkness in the form of free will.”

He laughed a little, again looking back at Dean and Castiel.  “But with the aversion of the apocalypse, my angels got a taste of free will anyway.  I was still afraid, though, that falling in love with a human would be too much, and would destroy any of them.  Already I had lost Lucifer, and while he did not fall due to love…I was scared of losing any others.  I thought that in taking the archangel Cassiel and turning him into the angel _Castiel_ …I would save my seventh creation from that overwhelming Darkness; from falling for the righteous man.  But I was wrong in that aspect as well…he always had more love in him than any of my other children.  Just changing his name and memories would not alter his very being.  It was arrogant of me to think otherwise, in all honesty.”          

God walked over to Castiel and gently grabbed onto his arm.  The angel’s armor instantly disappeared, revealing the mark that had appeared on Cas’ skin the moment he trapped Chaos.  “While I believe that your love for Dean and humanity would protect you from her influence, I am not going to put this burden on you,” He said.  Cas grimaced when Chuck put his palm over the mark, and Dean watched as the key to Chaos’ prison was transferred from Castiel to God.  When Chuck released the archangel’s arm, the mark was now on His hand and Cas’ skin was clear.  “I never should have put it on Lucifer…”  His voice was quiet and sad when He spoke again, before looking down at His palm and sighing.  But His sadness seemed to go away as quickly as it came; He was once again smiling at Dean and his angel.  “Now, Cassiel…I think I owe you something for all you have done for all of us, yes?  What do you desire?”

Castiel seemed taken aback at the question at first.  He looked at Dean, as if asking his human for some guidance here, but received no help.  For a moment, he was silent, trying to think before he finally spoke.  “…I wish to be called Castiel.  Not Cassiel.”  After all, _Castiel_ was the angel who met and fell in love with Dean Winchester.  _Castiel_ was the angel who rebelled against heaven to save humanity from the apocalypse.  _Castiel_ was the angel who was family to two brothers driving a 1967 Chevy Impala. 

Chuck didn’t at all look surprised when hearing the modest request.  “Of course.  I will do you one better, though, if you want.  From now on, you are no longer an angel of heaven.”  Immediately, He held up His hand when Castiel opened his mouth to object.  “You are now an angel of _humanity_.  You will protect humans and love them, even against the forces of heaven if need be.”  God laughed softly.  “I know it is but a formality, since you have truly been humanity’s angel and the Winchesters’ guardian for some time, but I know your heart will always lie with them, and I never wish for you to feel conflicted again.  I do want you to know, however, that you will always be welcome here, and you will always be family to us, no matter what happens.”  

“I…”  Cas didn’t know at all what to say.  In just that gesture, his Father had told him that all of what he had done for humans was _okay_.  That God did not hold anything against him for turning his back on heaven to help the Winchesters.   That He actually wanted Castiel to _continue_ loving humanity more than anything.  To continue loving Claire and Sam and _Dean_. 

That it was okay to fall.  To fall for the righteous man.  To fall for Dean Winchester.

“Thank you.”  Those were the only words that Castiel could muster. 

Chuck nodded and turned around to walk back to the rest of his angels. 

“Father, what about the demons?”  Raguel, of course, was referring to both Adam and Crowley, who had been released from Rowena’s spell and rendered unconscious after Chaos’ defeat.  It was surprising to the archangel that Castiel’s light had not obliterated either one of them.

“Ah, yes, I almost forgot,” Chuck said.  He snapped his fingers and both Adam and Crowley were suddenly at His feet, each of them groaning as they regained consciousness.  They stood, but once they looked at God’s face they screamed and covered their black eyes, which had begun to smoke.  The light of the Father was too much for them to witness this closely.

“Bloody hell…turn the brights off,” Crowley growled through clenched teeth. 

“Would you like for me to smite them, Father?”  Raguel seemed all too eager to get rid of these demons.  The fact that they were even _in_ heaven bothered her greatly.  However, she backed off when God shook His head. 

“No.  There’s a place for these two.  For one, I can’t have Hell running amok without a leader to guide it.  Hell does, after all, have its place in this universe.”  With that, he touched Crowley’s head, and the King disappeared.  The angels all looked surprised, but Chuck just smiled and laughed.  “I’m not giving him immunity or anything like that, but after Chaos, _someone_ needs to put that place back in order.  Why not let him deal with that mess?”   

He then turned his attention to Adam, who had sunk down to his knees while still covering his eyes.  Heaven’s light had finally begun to hurt him, since Chaos’ Darkness was no longer protecting him.  Black smoke was coming off his body, and the Knight of Hell was cringing in pain, trying to not vocalize his suffering in front of the agents of heaven.  God looked down on Adam with sorrow.  “You have given much…and you have suffered more than you ever should have.  For that, I am sorry.”  He brought two fingers to Adam’s forehead, causing the demon to gasp loudly.  The dark smoke slowly disappeared, and after Adam opened his eyes again, everyone watched as the blackness in them transformed into white and green. 

“You have more than earned your place in heaven.”

Adam allowed his once-again human eyes to adjust to the light, and once he realized he was no longer a demon, he began to weep silently.  He couldn’t help but remain angry concerning the events that had unfolded with Sam and Dean, but that anger meant little after he thought about the one person he wanted to see.  “My…my mom?”

“Your heaven is next to hers, and you two will be allowed to visit each other as much as you both desire.”  Once Chuck finished that sentence, Adam couldn’t stop his smile or his tears. 

“Can I see her now?”

With a nod, God again brought His fingers to Adam’s head; the youngest Winchester brother disappeared.

Finally, that kid would be with the person he loved the most, Dean thought.  It really was the least that he deserved, after all he had been through because of them. 

“Now then…”  Chuck clasped His hands together, turning His attention once more to His angels.  “Shall we?”

Ramiel and Raguel both nodded, and each began to follow their Father after He had started walking away.  Their places were at their Father’s side, and so they would go wherever He desired.

“Wait!”  Dean’s voice had the three of them looking in his direction.  “Where…where are you guys going now?  You’re just going to leave?”   

God smiled, but chose to not answer the human’s questions.  “I’m sure I’ll see you again Dean.” 

Before anyone could say anything else, God and his two archangel daughters were gone. 

“Forever mysterious, Dad is,” Gabriel sighed, breaking the silence after a few moments.

“Why didn’t you go with them, Gabriel?”  Sam was curious as to why the former trickster decided to stay rather than go with his Father and sisters to…wherever they were headed.  Gabriel just grinned and put his hands behind his head.

“What, and miss out on hanging with you guys down on Earth?  That’s not very fun, is it?”

“Oh so you’re coming with _us_ now?”

“Well maybe not right this second, but you know you wanna see me again, Sam,” Gabriel teased, while sticking his tongue out at the younger Winchester.  He chose to ignore Sam’s bitch-face response, and turned to Balthazar and Hannah.  “What about you two?  You got any plans?”

Hannah thought for a moment.  “I will return to the individual heavens…to make sure everything is in order.”  She was still in command, and knew she had a duty to make sure that everything in heaven was running smoothly.  After all, God and his archangels didn’t seem too eager to pick up the responsibilities again, so someone had to make sure everything was alright up here. 

“Sounds boring.  What about you, Balthy?”

“I think I’ve earned some relaxation and fun, don’t you think?  Being dead and then coming back to life isn’t exactly a cakewalk,” Balthazar said, crossing his arms and smirking.

“Don’t I know it,” Gabriel said through a grin.  “Well then.  Why don’t we get started on that?”  He snapped his fingers, and a drink instantly appeared in Balthazar’s hand.  “Don’t mind some company, do you brother?”

“Not at all,” Balthazar responded after taking a sip of his drink.  Nice, Gabriel got him the good stuff.  Hannah rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but smile.  After all…celebrating in any way was kind of necessary after the hopelessness that they had all experienced beforehand.  Perhaps she would visit her favorite heaven and that little girl building snowmen before doing anything else.

“Don’t get in too much trouble you two,” she sighed.  She lifted herself up into the air with her wings, but before flying off she turned to Castiel, Dean, and Sam.  “Thank you.  For all you three have done.”  She knew that those words alone were not enough to express her gratitude and the debt that heaven truly owed them, but it was all that she could think to say at the moment.

And the remaining five watched her fly off into the distance.

“Always working, that one.  No fun whatsoever,” Gabriel said, shaking his head.  But he soon clasped his hands together.  “Well, what’re we waiting for?” 

He and Balthazar turned to face the trio that once called themselves Team Free Will.  “We’ll see you boys around,” Gabriel said, winking as Balthazar sipped his drink again. 

And all Cas, Dean, and Sam could do before the two brothers disappeared was smile. 

“I’m sure you two want to go back as well,” Castiel observed.  Dean and Sam looked at each other and nodded.

“Yeah, after this whole thing I think I want to sleep for about a week.”  Although Dean physically felt fine after God’s healing touch, he still was mentally and emotionally exhausted.  Some good old R&R was well deserved, he thought. 

Castiel chuckled and held his hands out for the two of them to grab.  When they did, he took a moment to look at each of them fondly, and chose to lace his fingers with Dean’s.  Truly, he knew where he belonged now.     

With Sam and Dean Winchester.

With his family.

And it was time for them all to go home.

\-----

The first week back on Earth without Chaos was a relaxing one.  Castiel had brought the three of them back to the Impala (which Dean was super excited to see unharmed), and they had made their way back to the bunker.  Dean and Sam both spent a lot of the week sleeping, and when the entire trio was awake, they indulged in beer and food and lots of movie and television marathons. 

Castiel had basically moved into Dean’s room, and when the human was napping, he was in bed next to him, embracing and watching over his hunter and making sure he only had wonderful dreams. 

Unfortunately, however, Chaos’ absence did not remove all the demons and monsters and ghosts of this world, and the boys were soon back on the road solving cases and saving people.  Sometimes Castiel went with them, and other times he chose to go off and do some things on his own, allowing the brothers to conduct their business by themselves.  But he always returned to the bunker to be with his family once he was done.

Dean loved that. 

Today’s particular case – which turned out to be a relatively simple one thanks to the additional help of their angel – ended quickly, leaving the trio with a whole unplanned day.

“Back to the bunker?”  Sam had asked when he got in the front seat of the Impala.  Despite Dean and Castiel’s relationship, the angel was more than happy seated in the back most of the time.  There were instances where he and Sam would switch places, and during those times his left hand would find Dean’s right while the hunter was driving, and they would smile at each other and feel safe.  Sam would roll his eyes and comment about how gross they were, but in reality, he was ecstatic for the both of them.  Seeing his brother truly happy like this was not something he was used to, but something that he definitely loved.

“I have a better idea,” Dean had replied, before turning a corner and driving in a different direction. 

They were in the car for another hour after that, before coming to a large lake with sandy shores.  Dean had said some time ago that he wanted to go to a beach, but they weren’t exactly in an area where they could see the _actual_ ocean, so this would have to do for now.  There were some families out and about, with kids and parents swimming in the water, and teens sunbathing and playing volleyball. 

“Dean, I don’t think we’re dressed for this,” Sam said, exiting the car with a smile.  After all, they had just come from a job, so they were still dressed in their FBI suits.

“Tough shit Sammy.  Just enjoy it.”

Sam’s reply was to just laugh.

“Whatever.  _I’m_ going to go change.  Like hell I’m going to get this suit all messed up.”  With that, Sam grabbed a bag from the trunk and walked off, heading towards the changing rooms that were some feet away.  Castiel watched Sam before turning to Dean and tilting his head in confusion.

“You’re not going to change too?” 

“Not yet,” Dean replied, shaking his head.  “Come here.”  He began walking towards the lake, beckoning the angel to follow him.  Castiel obeyed, standing next to Dean when the hunter stopped at the edge of the water.  He kept his eyes ahead, watching the sun on the horizon, before noticing that Dean became somewhat fidgety. 

“Dean?  Is something wrong?”

The older Winchester shifted on his feet, but couldn’t look at Castiel when he answered him.  “It’s just.  You know, I wanted to bring you somewhere nice and shit but…looking at this place, I know it’s not nearly as nice as God’s beach, or whatever, you know, up in heaven…”  He was feeling more than a little foolish, like a teenager bringing his crush out on a first date or something.  It was stupid.  “Shit, this just isn’t…you deserve the best and this is-”

“Dean,” Castiel interrupted.  He waited until the hunter looked at him.  The two of them locked eyes.  Green had easily become Castiel’s favorite color long before their admitted feelings, just as blue had become Dean’s.  Castiel took Dean’s hand and wove their fingers together, before closing the gap between their lips.  It was a soft kiss, like many of theirs were, but it spoke volumes about the limitless love the angel had for this particular human being. 

That limitless love which caused Castiel to fall in love with Dean _twice_.  Even when all his memories had been taken from him…Castiel’s heart always belonged to Dean Winchester. 

And when the kiss stopped, Dean had relaxed entirely.  Castiel touched his forehead to the other’s before speaking again, his eyes never leaving Dean’s face.

“It’s perfect.”

 

~~The End~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading and being on this journey with me! Truthfully I did not think that this fic would turn into what it did, and I'm sorry about the slowing updates later on, but I hope that you enjoyed Sam, Dean, and Castiel's (well-deserved) happy ending! You're all the best and I wouldn't have been able to finish it without you! <3


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